So... for some reason I'm still writing this and it's getting some decent reviews and view, although I don't know if I'll still continue this as I'm nearing the end of one of my other fanfics and I need to focus on that if I want to make it memorable so this won't get as much attention as I'd like despite how much I'd like to write this more...
Please leave a review, I live off them... like a vampire
Naughtbeast
Chapter 4:
The fight that took place on the outskirts of the village was extraordinary to say the least and ever since it began, Frath knew there was no way that this little girl had any chance of taking down Holg and he knew that the other girls knew it as well. Tears were streaming down the red one's face, the yellow one was on the verge of breaking down and the one in black was looking on with a face of exasperation and fear, Frath not quite knowing why.
As soon as the match began, the girl in white was on the offensive, although when Frath saw how she fought he was obliged to laugh and scoff at her form. He had to actually sit down in order to comprehend just how little this girl knew of tactics as she was oblivious to adapting to the situation effectively. He could see she was an accomplished fencer for her age but fencing didn't work too well against an armoured opponent with a shield.
Her attempts at striking Holg were either deflected with a deft flick of his axe or was caught on the full by his metal shield which forced her to have to jump back quickly so not as to let him have a hit at her. Holg, on the other hand, was biding his time and waiting for her to tire as well as assessing her strategy. The Paladin's face was one of complete calm and barely contained fury while the girl's showed nothing but the face of someone facing what would be the last moments of their life.
It was half-way through the battle that Nora, Adrik and Morkai came up to Frath, surprising the three girls near him, querying as to what was happening. Frath could only give them a deft flick of the wrist to tell them to bugger off as he was enraptured in the battle and at laughing at the white one's constant rage at not being able to hit her target.
Nora groaned when she saw the magical line that was glowing brightly in the clearing, taking slow steps over to the grieving girl and bringing her into a hug to try and comfort her, only to get pushed away in her rage.
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM!" She screamed, Nora once again sighing and ushering the others to sit down, which they hesitantly accepted after seeing how serious she was.
"Only two types of people accepted the Nex Sacramentum… people who know they can win… or people who are too stupid to know better. No offence but I can tell which one your friend is, although I admire her effort I am afraid there is no way we can get her out safely…"
"THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING!" screamed the red one, letting more tears fall from her already scarlet eyes.
"Well, the only way we can break it is for Morkai over there to do it but I highly…"
She hadn't even finished the sentence before the girl in red disappeared in a blur of petals and was clinging onto Morkai and nearly strangling him with her arms, although the Tiefling didn't seem to care in the slightest.
"PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO SAVE HER!" she screamed into Morkai's ears.
"That would require one of my more powerful skills, although not unattainable, I am hesitant to use it because of its possible side-effects"
"What could be worse than someone dying!" shouted the blonde, looking as though she was about to rip everything around her to shreds.
"I could possibly lose my mind, kill everyone around you and possibly destroy the world…" nonchalantly spoke Morkai, still observing the battle with keen eyes.
"No-one has that much power…" the one in black murmured, earning a smile from the wizard.
"Oh please, I doubt you've seen anything near what I can do…"
"Ya really don't wanna either… nasty stuff" Adrik commented, slapping Morkai on the back before sitting next to Frath and began counting his gold… not noticing that most of it never made it back into his pouch.
"If he does this so often, then why are you friends with him!" continued the one in black, her eyebrows narrowing in anger and frustration. They turned back to the fight to see the girl in white summon a massive glyph underneath the Paladin… although nothing happened. She reared back int shock and complete disbelief, Holg seizing the opportunity and going in for a strike. His axe shone an almost blinding bright blue as he brought it down on the girl… but all she could do was try and block it.
A deafening crack of thunder pierced the normally quite forest and everyone had to turn and shield their eyes from the flash of light. When it cleared, they saw that the girl had been slammed painfully into the back of the arena and was lying on the floor, feebly trying to get up.
"Damn, never seen a human survive one of those!" Frath exclaimed as he began taking gold rings off Adrik's fingers as he was distracted. Holg too was stunned, not knowing how the girl had survived without suffering the slightest of physical injuries, was too stunned to dodge as she rose and dashed forward at blinding speeds, her rapier finding its way underneath one of his plates of armour… and spearing him in the chest.
The girl nearly screamed and turned green when she saw what she had done, although she certainly didn't get the reaction she expected. Holg looked down as though nothing had happened and grasped the hilt of the rapier, simply brushing off the girl's own in her dazed state, then pulled it out in one swift go. All that showed he had received an injury was the thick blood that covered the weapon and the slightest of grins as he pulled it from his chest.
He threw the weapon aside as if nothing had happened, putting his shield on his back and held his axe with two hands, bring it into a battle stance and charging it once more with divine energy. He brought it around in a strong cleaving swing and hit the girl full-on, sending her flying once more into the edges of the arena. With speed that seemed way too fast for someone who was wearing full plate-mail and a heavy duster cloak, he lunged forward and grabbed her, throwing her into the ground with such force that it left a dent in the earth where she landed.
"What foul sorcery is this that denies my blows purchase!" demanded Holg, slamming his axe into the centre of her back, the white shield that encased her body breaking from the massive blow. "Now that you are free of your spells, I shall see that you are entailed with a quick death for your dealings against my honor!"
"Seriously Holg! You start this over a bloody insult!" Nora scolded, swearing in Elvish under her breath. Holg stopped immediately and turned to her with a look of scorn and pain.
"The Great One… it is still alive" he said simply, letting it hand in the air for the others to compute.
Nora had only ever been told of the supposed happenings of the creation of the new world and she didn't entirely believe it to be honest, but nevertheless she knew just how powerful this old threat was.
"That can't be…" she whispered, hearing Adrik cough violently as she swore he nearly choked.
"But da god's killed im!"
"Neigh, it appears that even they underestimated the Great One and it still looms as a threat against all life"
"Wouldn't we be dead if it were so?" Morkai reasoned, shrugging the girl off him and floating closer to the circle.
"COULD EVERYONE ACTUALLY ACT AS IF SOMEONE IS GOING TO DIE!" screamed the one in yellow, looking even more sadistic and enraged, stopped from lashing out only by the hand of the one in black. Holg shrugged off the conversation, picking up the girl carefully and placing her face-down on the ground, pushing her hair aside to leave the back of her neck free of obstructions. He pulled back his arm that held his axe while holding her still with the other.
"Rest in peace, may you find salvation with whatever deity you atone your sins to"
And with that, he brought his axe down…only to be stopped by a single word.
"No…"
It was barely audible above a whimper but Holg heard it never-the-less and he knew exactly who it came from. He turned to see Genevive standing at the edge of the circle, her brow furrowed in determination.
"Frath! Get her way" he ordered, the thief rising to obey only to be stopped when he saw Genevive take a tiny step towards it.
"Don't do it daddy, or I'll go in!" she said, sounding as though she knew exactly what she was doing.
"Honey, don't take another step!" Holg warned, his expression changing from grim intent to worry.
"Daddy, don't kill her or I'll go in!" she warned, staring him right in the eyes. He tried to think of any ways but he was powerless to do anything outside of the circle and even if she stumbled a mere inch, she would be bound by the rules of combat. He could get Morkai to use his telepathy but he cursed himself that even Gen could pick up the faint traces of magic used and know exactly what he was doing.
There was only two ways this would end… with both the girl and him dying… or just one of them.
"Gen, I really hope you know this is definitely not ok and I'm going to have to punish you when I get out"
"I know…" she said happily, seeming oblivious to what was happening next. The adventurers all knew exactly what was happening and Morkai began readying his spell, ensuring that the other girls did not see it by casing a simple illusion spell to mask his actions. Said girls had not the slightest of ideas what was happening between them but they got an idea when they saw what Holg did next.
He sheathed his axe and reached up to his own head, grabbing onto it with both of his colossal hands… then snapped his own neck, his limp body clattering to the floor sprawled unevenly. The four girls all screamed as they witnessed what the adventurers assumed to be their first death, the white one fainting immediately, the red and yellow one holding onto eachother while crying and the black one just stood there with a blank look on her face.
"Great… now we're going to have to erase their memories" muttered Nora, watching as the glowing circle in the forest dissipated and she calmly walked over to the now dead Holg. Frath and Morkai followed her while Adrik went off to go back to the village claiming that this was 'too boring' and wanted to start getting a gateway back to their Material Plane.
Morkai floated over to the fallen Paladin's side, not at all caring about Frath beginning to loot the corpse. He looked down at the glowing purple orb in his hands and slowly pushed out with his hands, seeing it float into Holg and dissipate on contact… then the real magic began. His neck began twisting back around until it was straight again… and his eyes began blinking again.
He sat up on and brushed himself off, grinning and slapping away Fraths hands as he tried to take the gold pieces he had in his coin-purse. The three girls that were still wide awake became even more so when they saw he was alive… that was until Morkai waved his hand and they all fell unconscious, his magic working its way and re-writing their memory before they spread too much information to the other inhabitants of this world.
Holg was now fully awake after getting revived and had worked out all the soreness and pain of dying as much as he could, smiling at Genevive as she smirked widely at him. He shook his head and stood up fully, holding out his hand to Frath who hesitantly put back the items he took while the Paladin was unconscious. Holg put them all back where they belonged, shrugging his shoulders and setting his duster cloak back into place so that it covered his armour, taking his helmet from Morkai and thanking him for bringing it, fixing it back upon his head and pulling his hood down low so he was back to being covered completely.
His thoughts instantly switched back to the most pressing matter, being the world they were stuck in, so his mind immediately began formulating plans.
"Morkai, I need a gateway to Mount Celestia immediately so that I can gain counsel with the gods and discuss this… I need you four to hold down this village as our forward staging area and escape to our plane as soon as the Great One decides to make themselves known… until then, I wish you luck and make sure these four make it back to their residences unharmed" Holg explained, nodding to the four on girls before sending a mental note to Morkai.
The Tiefling nodded and held out his hands, summoning a rift in the very fabric of reality, through which Holg walked through without the slightest of hesitation. The others cleaned up from his battle and carried the girls back to their borrowed house, seeing that Adrik had already began laying lay-rocks around in a spare room and had begun the ritual to start an efficient gateway, so they rested up and let the girls rest, none of them waking from their slumber yet.
It was quite some time before they heard anything from Holg and his council with the gods, although when it came it was dusk and it came in the form of three simple words…
"It is war…"
