I am not dead. I think I proved this by making cover art, for one thing. I've been trudging on through this and my other story, of which I'm not posting as a fanfiction but perhaps it will actually get published, in addition to making freelance MtG blocks and an RP. Classes have also started up. I may be slow, but I get it done- and in the fashion that has hooked you for these past chapters, if you've read this far. Making you wait this long is horrible. I'll try to speed up my updates, but there are no guarantees, as the times I can write for this story in particular are varied. Anyway, let's get on to the next, probably long awaited and with good reason chapter.

Warning: Synfester has images not suitable for most audiences. Extreme viewer discretion is advised for that section of this chapter.

Chapter 6: Long Shadows

Why should he be caged?

He who ruled the night and the day, contempt with keeping his position in owning life as he knew it. He who knew, he who had his way when he wanted to have it with no questions asked. He who was dethroned by the Four, the damned Four that decided he was not good enough to rule and his subjects not good enough to exist. He who was made an example of, he who's people were ripped apart to create the Lessers.

Why should he be caged?

After all that he had gone through, being caged was not even on the list of things he had to do before his life was up. On the off chance that it ended abruptly, of course. He was known to have the longest of shadows, extremely acute in the arts that gave him his brand from the Four. Branded, broken, beaten, he was all but the god he was. They left the brand over his eyes, forever marking the shapeshifter. The brand spelt the name which he had taken a dread liking to, something that brandished his shame and that he wouldn't force away until he had done the honorable thing and taken back what was his.

The brand spoke a simple word, a word which would never leave the imprint of the creature's eyes.

Geth.

Why should he, Geth, be caged?

As the shackles of the Depths were obliterated, in a flash of light that blinded every angel, the ground caved in. It fell as if broken in half, landing on cages and freeing all manner of demons. One could see, in the center of the disintegrating hell, a humanoid shape with air distortions and violently glowing eyes.

Why should the King be caged?

It was as if they thought he could. Pitiful. He would show those gods just how pitiful this creation, these Depths, would be.

And then he would take it.

Why should the Ultimate be caged like a beaten, broken toy, left with no use but to amuse and warn others that would dare go down the path that he has taken?

Why should he be caged?!

Synfester was not the prettiest sight to see.

Buildings were in disarray, a water wheel of gray wood at a stop. Some of the shacks were collapsed, yellow light softly burning from the wheels of standing structures. Two boats waited in the docks, swaying with the wind. The only sounds were the water.

"What happened here?" Link asked. This was nothing like he'd ever seen. There'd been evidence of a battle, said the torn down homes, but no blood, no burns, no bodies… This was the strangest town Link had ever visited. "It's like they just decided to up and leave, and take their houses with them. Check the standing structures. Shout if you find anything." Ros nodded and was off, but Midna arched an eyebrow.

"The commanding type now, are we?" She asked. Link shrugged, giving a nonchalant smile.

"While you've been gone, I've made some ah, improvements in my personality." Link replied. Midna did not believe it.

"Well, I'm glad that I left a lasting impression on you," She smirked. "But about that personality, are you sure it isn't because you know I'll whoop your butt again if and when the time comes?" Link frowned. During their adventure, Link and Midna had tried to compete for who was the leader. They tried (tried being the key word) to make equal fields for both of them. She had beaten him in speed (Even in his wolf form, that little floating creature had managed to beat him!), intellect ("Seriously?" Midna sighed, putting her head in her hands as Link tried to assault the shield that blocked the path. When it was her turn, Midna had simply used a bolt of shadow magic to push it out from the hole that it had opened in the wall it created. "I weakened it for you." Link growled before turning back into wolf form.), and… not that Link wanted to admit it, anything that had to with brains. He had endurance, navigation, sight, strength, and tenacity.

"I'm pretty sure, Mid. Now, go check over yonder," He waved randomly in a direction. "And I'll go check over yonder." He waved his hand in the other direction. Midna rolled her eyes.

"Sir, yes Sir." She murmured, going to the designated point. Link smiled, watching her back and his eyes fell downwards. Stopping in pure shock, he ridiculed himself.

I did not just do that, He thought. I'm going nuts. Link only thought to shrug it off, the things he just imagined bouncing off the emotional armor he had built as a self-reward for his first quest. The armor was powerful and selectively permeable, stronger and lighter than the Magic Armor, which he had disposed of personally. The costs had outweighed the benefits on that expensive and dressed-up and at the same time draining piece of metal. So he dumped it in Lake Hylia. He was sure that somewhere, at the bottom of the lake, a school of fish would be wearing his armor, the armor that he had killed Zant in.

The wreckage that made up a good quarter of Synfester was not like anything he'd seen.

The wood was the same dreary gray color as the waterwheel he had seen earlier, but more… sophisticated, for lack of a better word. What he thought was wreckage was actually just a pile of wood arranged in a neat fashion, laid upon one another to make different shapes within shapes. Startled at this, Link began moving the planks. This wasn't wreckage, this was decoration. At the center of this particular spot, something softly hissed. Link halted, slowly drawing his sword. The metallic ring drug on, but nothing seemed to respond to the sound. This time, he began moving the wood with his sword this time, but the hiss did not return. At the center, a small black orb levitated slightly off the ground before dropping with a metallic ring extremely different then the Master Sword's. This sound nearly replicated a drop of water.

On second glance, this black sphere was a drop of water.

It melted into the ground, before seeping like a metal liquid and disappearing from Link's sight.

"What the…" He whispered. The blob entered his sight again for a fraction of a second, before entering a house. He followed the blob inside the house, pushing the little door with a neat black spot on it lightly. Instead, it collapsed with a Drrrndrosh, kicking up the dust that lay within. The house was small, barely ten meters in diameter. Two tables lay adjacent at one corner, one holding a pitcher of water and the other bare. When Link turned to look the other way, he saw the bodies. They were grayed and shriveled, looking more like a dried fruit than a person. The eyes were hollow and large, mouths agape with a silent scream that never came out. Link looked up from the bodies and saw a little girl, no older than seven, looking nearly as bad as the bodies. She held a five-inch knife in her hands, pointing to the water pitcher. Her legs were curled up on the chair, hair fallen dry and mouth agape with the wordless sound and motioning to water. Link hefted the pitcher.

"Farore," Link whispered. "Are you okay?! Here, have some water! I need you to tell me what happened here!" Link urged.

He did not see the black gloop that dripped into it, too focused on helping the child.

Geth was, without a doubt, no questions asked, infuriated.

As he surged ever upwards, breaking the chains of existence that bound this place specifically made for him, repurposed to hold other 'criminals' in addition to himself, he had gathered from the bodies that this place was called the Depths. And it was clearly not doing the job it was designed to do, as it's 'star of the show' was breaking the chains to existence that the Depths held onto. The act was quite easy for Geth, actually; he had quite a few million years to practice wiping things from existence. It worked obscenely well with the little guards that had decided they'd test their will and attack him. Ridiculous little children, they should've been informed on what, who, Geth was.

Those who underestimated, or even failed to underestimate Geth, ended up dead nine out of every ten times. The one other time was usually saved for someone special. That someone came to Geth's mind as he broke another layer of the Depths. Where was she now? She was one of them. He would find her. He was not the Ultimate for nothing.

Hundreds of thousands of criminal souls tried to chase after him, ones that he decided to force downwards. The force he exerted was enough to flip a building, and it did what it was meant to do (Unlike these simply unacceptable Depths.). The first wave of souls was pushed back, rippling down the bloodline and staggering the spirits like a blockade of some kind. Geth smiled, tearing through the gate at the very ceiling of the Depths. A gaping hole was left in the middle of the obsidian.

After all, this would be his world soon. He didn't want more troubles then he already had, for if the Ultimate knew one thing, it was that people didn't change.

Nor did the Four. Well, now they were known as the Triad. He would fix this dire mistake. It would be easy.

After all, what better way was there to start a fight you intended to win without the words 'violently, smartly, bloody, quickly' in the equation? Geth intended to use all four. It seemed funny, as the Four represented themselves in dressed up versions of the words he intended to use, each a separate war on its own.

The child was shaking now, Link realized. Link followed her gaze to the pitcher, and upon realizing that it was, for some reason, black, and following the Sacred Beast's instincts, he threw it against the wall. The glass hung around the liquid, which stuck to the wall like a frightened animal. Link's fight or flight instincts had turned to fight, but the Sacred Beast, who was an animal, had chosen flight.

"Ros! Midna!" Link shouted. The child was shaking violently now.

Then the world exploded in dust as the liquid sprouted arms and threw Link, as if he was a child's toy, through one of the walls of the house. Before Link blacked out, he saw something with crimson eyes and mouth pulling itself out of the liquid, as if trapped within.

However, Link was immediately taken out of his slip into unconsciousness via the child managing a scream. He got up, shield arm roaring in protest, as the liquid pulled outwards, red-eyed beast trying to break the bonds of reality. The child scooted off of the chair and ran, as if there was no tomorrow. She barely looked like she could stand, let alone run. However, the little thing did it. Link jumped to his feet, only to see that the child ran onto the coastline and sluggishly into the water.

"Oh no." He said, eyes going wide and rushing after the kid. Dust clouded his vision, arm roaring in pain like some manner of beast as he ran. Push. He thought. Link had done things in terrible conditions during his quest with Midna, this was barely a scrape on the other things that had decided to test their might against him. However, if his assumptions were correct, she wouldn't be able to swim like that-

Then the water decided to pay Link a visit and all hell broke loose.

Link fell backwards, water rushing into his eyes. From the ground, he saw a tentacle of ice-like water fly up, holding a small form that was silently screaming. The tentacle flicked backwards, and then forwards, throwing the child back towards Synfester. The scream tore through the veil of his clogged ears, and animalistic instincts kicked in. The Sacred Beast forced him up, following the screaming body and then Link's mouth dropped. The Sacred Beast could do nothing but force him to run.

The thing that had caught the child was something straight out of a nightmare.

It's body was crystalline, easily allowing one to see the black water that made up the thing's innards. The shoulders of the beast were jagged, and could impale a man with ease, making a V shape around the monster's head. They curled up just before ending, and taking another look Link realized that they were moving. The only other feature, aside from the claws for fingers, seven long knives the size of Link's forearm, was the red gaping hole in the shape of a cartoon demon's hungry mouth on the clear head, which ended in more of the moving ice. Red eyes matched it. The knife fingers were soaked in blood.

Link watched in terror, trying desperately to get to his feet, as the claws plunged ever deeper into the child's body as the monster forced her eyes to gaze directly into crimson pools. Link finally got to his knees, and noticed the ice armor was changing colors. The child was violently shaking, starting to scream but her mouth growing ever wider. Link got to his feet, drawing his sword with his good arm. The metallic cling synced with the gulp of something. Link whirled around, murder in his eyes and saw the feet of the child hanging out of the monster's mouth, ice pulsating crimson light. The beast spit out the feet and snarled, a gesture made all too visible by the very real red fangs the size of Link's nose visible. It snorted.

That thing's still hungry… The Sacred Beast cautioned, growling beside him.

"Thanks for doing your job, Captain Obvious." Link retorted, trying to reach for his shield, but his arm roared in protest.

Even more so when tentacles of crimson ice lashed into it. Link screamed, the ice that was the spikes on the horrible beast's back was now gone, however only a portion of it. The tentacles twisted, assuring the Hero that this wound would not close. Link screamed again as another section, not quite depleting the ice, pierced his sword arm and impaled him into the wall of a house. The beast advanced, eyes running up and down the prey. Then the sound of heaven on earth rang out, a battle call as sweet as any fruit.

Bifuum.

"Midna!" Ros called out, reloading his crossbow. His armor was stained, faceplate covered in still wet blood from the bear that had appeared on the edge of Synfester. It oozed off of his faceplate, giving him a menacing appearance. Come on, you mother… Ros thought, firing a bolt into the ice that entered Link. The connection severed, all Link would have to do was pull the ice out. The monster turned to him, red eyes and gaping red mouth with long fangs easily identifying it as a Tide Warden, demons that came from the water. It pulled the other block of ice out of Link's arm, and the shape of the arm changed to that of a spiked flail. "Midna!" Ros shouted the loudest he ever had. Where was she? Tide Wardens could not be killed by anything but magic, but could shrug off even a catapult's blow to the face. He was lucky he broke a limb, one that it probably didn't need to kill him. He decided on this explanation as the ice grew back and the black liquid grew into the socket. Ros saw something, a pale gray blotch, appear on the Warden's chest. He squinted, and then gagged.

It was not a spot. It was a face, and the face of a little girl screaming in pain and agony.

Ros fired again, crossbow making the familiar and homely sound of Bifuum. The bolt collided with the chest of the Tide Warden, staggering it slightly. The bright flash from the impact momentarily blinded Ros. Wait, flash?

The spiked flail of the Tide Warden went up, but the flash from something cut it straight off. The flail melted, and the whirling black blade flew back into Midna's hand. Her expression was confused, angry, but strangely enough happy at the same time. As the blade stopped in her hand she spoke.

"And that thing is a…" She trailed off, blade of darkness disappearing. The Tide Warden snarled, growing back the arm quicker than before.

"A Tide Warden. Rumor has it they can only be killed by magic. I've got to help Link. Ready?" Ros punctuated each sentence with a reload and a bolt into the Tide Warden, staggering it, but the beast did not appear harmed in the least. Midna gave a nod, Ros ducking out of the way as her hands began to glow. Link was on his knees, trying to pull out large chunks of ice from his arms.

Then Ros heard a roar and the world exploded in red.

Midna's glowing shadows were canceled by the Tide Warden letting out a stomach-wrenching roar and then exploding.

The Tide Warden expunged the red from whatever internal systems it had, blossoming like a crimson flower. Time seemed to slow as she watched the blood rise into the air and fall, but not before it turned like a plant to sunlight to the water. Did her eyes betray her? Was it mingling with the water?

Ultimately, she had decided yes, yes it was- for the water level was now matching the height of her ankles. For not the first time since returning to Hyrule (being forced or not), she had cursed herself for bringing thin sandals. They were swallowed by the water, meaning that when she would be able to step out of this horrible mixture they would be ruined. Great.

The rational part of Midna stopped herself. Was she worrying about shoes when she was supposed to be fighting a monster to cover for Link?

The Tide Warden bellowed at her, administering a challenge with such a ferocity and backed with a power she hadn't detected within this strange creature before. Now was the time to kill it, before it could dare to try anything new if at all. Her hands began to glow orange once more, tethering a pot of mana, or residue magical energies that were depleted for use of spells (shadow magic simply depleted anything it could find), and focused into the spell. Midna closed her eyes.

She heard the all too familiar crackle of a crossbow, assuming that Ros had either shot it off to buy her time or to signify that he had finished covering Link, who would now be up. Midna's hands grew increasingly warm before the glow changed it to a strange blackish-orange color, forming a globe with puzzle-piece shape glowing orange cuts. It radiated light, spinning with an increasing velocity as Midna channeled the spell. When she felt it was at optimal capacity for testing against the creature, she made a fist with one hand.

A sharp pain caused her train of thought to end and she snapped open her eyes, feeling her blood travel down from her knees where the cuts lay to the water. Unable to keep herself up without the support of the tendons that felt like they had been whipped out, she collapsed face-first into the water. The Twilight Princess turned over, survival instinct taking control, and used one hand to put two fingers in the ground. She tethered the same pot of mana, cursing as her spell had dissipated, and fired a bolt of orange flames into the ground. Her eyes momentarily rolled over and became the same tangerine color as the water around her made a circle, flames encompassing her. Midna was able to assess her wounds, in a few quick seconds, had healed them using the same spell she had used for Ros. Now on her feet, Midna grunted and attempted to figure out just what was going on.

Ros had been fighting from afar, crossbow firing the Bifuum sound in a repetitive, rehearsed fashion that was not unlike the way the guards in the Twilight Palace were trained to use their crossbows. Link had been backpedaling and rolling, drawing attention to himself as the frenzied, eight foot tall Tide Warden tried to relentlessly pound him into a pile of meat with hammer arms. Midna withdrew the flames, still somewhat flimsy on her feet, and converted the mana to the spell she was channeling once more. The spinning ball returned, and with her right hand she made a fist as the left one still kindled and enhanced the spell.

"Over here!" Midna cried. The Tide Warden, Ros, and Link turned to her. She punched at the spell, releasing into a palm upon contact with the ethereal ball. It flew, radiating energy as it zipped and punched a neat hole through the Tide Warden, who briefly flashed orange. The ichor that made up the innards of the demon began to spill, but not without the creature protesting. The Tide Warden ran at Midna, taking gigantic but continuously slowing steps. Midna had to react quickly, scanning for any familiar tugs of magic. She grasped the mana that her spell had given off and focused it into a shield of blue glass. It appeared as shards, floating around her in a translucent bubble format. The Tide Warden tried to pound her to nothingness, but the shield flared to life, not only rejecting the blow but actually forcing the hammers off of the shield. A sword entered the hole of the Tide Warden, and the creature turned and lifted it's arms, now scythes, in one quick motion. Out of easy to grab mana, Midna now had to tune into the forces of life itself. She drew from what would allow her to as Link rolled backwards, narrowly evading the scythes that cut at the ground. The only source that did allow her to tap into it was her own crown, which was more or less a cache of selective mana- mana which could only be used for certain sources, otherwise it wouldn't be compatible with the spell and it would fail. She quickly browsed through the available mana by feeling the energy it radiated, and made a reminder to store some more when the time came. Taking a hold on mana usually used for spells along the lines of close-quarters combat with an enemy or rage, she concentrated, limbs sharpening with a noticeable change, becoming knife-like and thin.

Geth burst through the surface, through the gate of the Depths, sending chunks of earth flying in different directions as he landed on the ground, remaining in the quite normal by now humanoid shape that we has accustomed to, especially after acknowledging the fact that his subjects knew him in this manner. Mountains stretched out behind him, roads in front of him and to his left another mountain range. Geth placed one hand on the ground, tracking any magical pulses within the area. He felt a rather distinct one across the continent, though it was far stronger then he and nearly toppled him from such a distance. Pondering what had such a magical prowess, to the point of being able to stumble the King of the Avatars from that distance, he did not notice the metallic being in front of him.

"Geth." None other than the one that had banished him, the Chronographer, spoke. Geth turned to the machine, eyes ablaze with dark fire. Literally.

"Hello, machine. Did you miss me?" Geth spat, voice echoing in the bright afternoon air. This was not the Chronographer, Geth discerned this from the six green eyes in the shape of a V (without the bottom segment). Great, so he was using a conduit. What a coward. The Chronographer made a grunt-like sound through the conduit.

"Abyssal, show this abomination why it was not able to resist us when we put it down." The machine clarified as the Abyssal nodded, arms becoming swords. The chest of the machine began to disappear, holes and little peaks holding steady against the melting. After a few seconds, a cannon of sorts took shape.

Geth did not waste any time. Strangling the nearest source of mana he could find, he formed two large discs the size of a flattened boulder underneath his arms. The cannon began to glow, but Geth launched one of the discs. It spun with a savagery that mimicked Geth, who turned the disc upwards to fan the blast. White exploded in his vision, leaving a pool of chaotic and volatile mana for his taking and filling most of his vision with white. The disc had been disintegrated from the blast, but it filtered the mana that was given off- instead of being entirely destructive, some of it had been transmogrified for basic needs. Smiling underneath his black cloak, eyes becoming a bloody amethyst, Geth launched the other disc. It connected with the Abyssal's waist, sending the construct nigh of flying. The machine actually appeared winded as the disc dug into it, sending it off the ground slighty before digging into it and forcing the machine on the ground. The Abyssal grabbed at the center of the disc, and with humanlike appendages, ripped it in half. He could feel the dark mana dripping from the gap, and tapped into all the available mana that was left from the cannon blast and from the disc and channeled it into the ground. The earth spasmed, crackling with mana as Geth created a quick tether of mana to this spot.

The Abyssal leaped at Geth, causing the King to throw himself back with a minor concussive blast that required nothing but a thought. The Abyssal clawed at nothing, now claw-like arms raking where he once stood, however the Abyssal had landed on the spot of concentrated mana. Geth tapped into it once more, power flooding him as he spent it all in one gigantic burst, earth leaping up in a maw of stone and dirt that swallowed the machine, leaping nearly forty feet in the air, dirt falling off of it like a waterfall. Smiling at his work, Geth's eyes rolled to the back of his head from the pleasure of such power running through him, before dispelling it in one fell swoop and forcing the maw down into the earth, taking the machine known as the Abyssal down with it.

"How did you like my show, Chronographer?" Geth growled. "Your death won't be as fancy." Geth's shape finished forming, as he brushed off his cloak and the heart shaped mask that forbade anyone from seeing his eyes.

His bloody, greedy, hungry, branded amethyst eyes.

The Chronographer shot the screen of his view of the Abyssal. With a smoking arm, the Chronographer lifted himself off of the throne of clocks and wrapped himself in mana. Space and time seemed to warp and bend around him as he channeled existence into himself. The mana clouded his vision, every color under the sun caressing him.

He would get his revenge.

Finally, Midna's spell began to work. The hole that she had punched through the Tide Warden sparked orange, the demon getting noticeably slower with each passing second. When it stopped completely, Midna's limbs had become fully sharpened. As Link and Ros began to take a breather, Midna sliced off the feet of the Tide Warden with one arm before stabbing it in the back with the other. When she pulled both arms out, she made an X with them and opened the foul liquid, ice armor melting and joining with the water level. Midna decided she wasn't done, growling even though none could hear her and attacked the still beast without remorse.

Not. My. Blue. Eyed. Beast. Midna thought, ending the thought with her body on the back of the Tide Warden, her razor arms on either side of the Tide Warden's head, before slicing. The shell of ice fell to the floor, breaking as the black ichor joined with the water. Midna leaped off of the beast, features returning to normal. Link's mouth opened with a question before she fainted, the blackness dragging her along for the ride.

The creature on the ship's interest was heightened. It seemed the Twili was a mage. Suppresing a laugh, the phantom faded from the ship, tunneling back to the Catacombs. Lord Serrux would need to hear about this one, one that quite the capacity for spells it seemed. Even her Shadow Nova had been potent enough to radiate salvageable mana, something extremely rare among mages. The only ones the phantom knew of that were remotely like this happened to be Lord Serrux and the creature that called itself Geth. Then again, the phantom didn't get out much- it's body was of a worm, after all. Maybe mages had evolved, though the likelihood was laughably low of something like that happening. The phantom paged his master.

Tikhas? Lord Serrux had accepted his page immediately.

I've found someone you might want to learn about, Lord Serrux. Tikhas projected. She's young, but already can form surplus mana from spells. Tikhas' master waited a moment.

Send me the details. Lord Serrux demanded. Tikhas complied, sending off the mana in a bubble that was greedily caught by a force that even at this distance, in the ocean, halted Tikhas.

His master radiated an emotion that Tikhas had become all too familiar with, something not present in most individuals.

Lord Serrux radiated a lust, not for pleasing himself from her body but devouring her very essence. Tikhas gulped, still traveling in the ground to reach the Catacombs. Sometimes, no, oftentimes Lord Serrux scared Tikhas. And Tikhas was a worm-dragon, given the title Death-Song.

Midna awoke on a ship, blurry vision sharpening swiftly. She was swaying slightly, bright sun and gulls overhead.

"Midna!" Midna sat up, turning to look behind her. Link stood there, smiling almost ear to ear. He opened his arms. "Are you okay, O Twilight Princess?" Link asked, mimicking the Sages. Midna smiled, blowing a strand of flaming hair out of her eyes.

"As okay as I'll ever be. How are we-"Midna began to ask, getting up with the help of Link (who's smile changed from happy to amused as she accidentally connected skulls with him as she stood). Link interrupted her.

"Moving?" Taking her nod as a cue to continue, Link started again. "It just… started, when you came on the ship."

"Maybe it's a thing that recognized mana," Midna looked around, and then Link nudged her and pointed slightly up. Ros was on the wheel. "You encouraged the ship to get off a metaphorical ass. You know, the one that you usually sit on." Ros stifled a laugh, but Link howled. Midna glared at him, biting her lip as Link's laugh was contagious.

"That was pretty fun, Ros," The Hero admitted. After locking eyes with Midna, he smirked. "But it was also pretty mean."

"For instance, would it be funny if I hung Link by his manhood from the bow?" Midna asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ros' laughter seemed to echo on the sea.

"Do you want me to kill her?" Bane asked, crouching with Xul in the brush. The Antithesis pondered this for a moment, watching the Insumnios limp.

"First, increase the poison. Then deal with her however you deem fit. I've got somewhere to be." Xul said, before simply vanishing. Bane sent a command to his virus, before letting his tail hit a stick, making the Insumnios jump.

Time for the fun part, Bane decided as he stalked.

The screams of the people of Orden were music to Qsthain's ears. People getting slaughtered by their own kin just happened to be one of the kinds of irony that the Lichfiend preyed on, and this meal was delicious. Qsthain walked in the midst of the flames and the smoke and the bodies and the blood and the zombies. A blond man approached him, wielding a sword and stepping in front of a pregnant woman. Qsthain drew from the zombie's energy and made his sword glow with darkness before impaling the blonde. His body seemed to age and skin grayed, for when the Lichfiend pulled his blade from the man he turned to the pregnant woman, mouth hungry for flesh.

Yes, today was as good a day as any.

So, what did you guys think of it? I know it was pretty short for such a long wait, but in addition to a novel I'm actually preparing another fanfiction story. I've got a plethora of new and exciting things to show you, including how magic works. For the last part with Uli, Rusl's wife, she did have the kid but was pregnant again. For practical purposes, I did just slaughter an unborn child in addition to the kids of Orden and Rusl. This story gets pretty dark at more than a few times, so if anybody is offended by that let me know and I'll start putting dark warnings in bold. And yes, the Tide Warden is the second real monster of many to come, nigh of all of them being original creations, all others being classic creatures. Anyway, next time on The Price of Freedom, the new continent will be opened up! Join us then, and prepare for a scare! *Commercial ends.*