AN: Sorry for the late updates, I didn't like how the story ended so I'm going back to change it for the better. Updates will come but slower then intended. Sorry.
Disclaimer: I do not own Armello
Despite wanting nothing more than to charge forward with all his might, Thane knew he couldn't go into this upcoming battle with his heart filled with rage. If he wanted to stop Nazar and save Rory, he needed to be calm and collected. Even if every second had his heart aching at the thought of his son being a prisoner to that mad lizard. Such a thing blinded warriors and led them to their graves. A quick war council was summoned a few miles from the temple as the forces of the Royal Army and The Bandit Clan were side by side over a long stretch of land in the forest. So far, most of the cult's forces, including the rumored Banes, were at the temple, preparing for the upcoming assault.
"The problem is that they have hostages," Sir Horace said under the large tree they were hosting their small council under with Thane, Twiss, and a few commanders around a large flat rock with a map of the forest in front of them. "Not to mention, they can easily escape. All they need to do is send the ferals and Banes out."
"Can we send a team to sneak inside and attack from the inside?" Thane asked.
"The Worm's Will has already figured that out."
Everyone turned to see a frowning Sargon walking towards them while leaning on his staff. "He has purposely allowed one area of the side to be unguarded with a dozen magical traps prepared to end your lives. I have seen that should you take it, you will fall into oblivion."
"When did you have this vision?" Twiss asked, eyebrow raised.
"Not long after the attack on our camp was over," Sargon growled as he turned to Thane with blinded eyes. "There are many terrible fates for you or the Red Prince should caution not be held. Fortunately, I know one path that can lead you to confront your enemy. But what happens then is unknown."
"And you are sure of this?" Thane asked, glaring at the rat.
He nodded his head. "Your suspicion is not needed, Winter Wolf. I wish to save that which I hold dear to my heart. A nephew I never had yet treasure very much. I will not see him die this day. I would instead see the future I saw for him long ago."
"What future was that?" Thane demanded with held breath.
"Happiness," Sargon answered cryptically. "Pure happiness."
Thane bit his lip as he lowered his head to hide his conflicting expression. On the one paw, he hesitated to trust Sargon of all beings, even if he had become friends with those of the Bandit Clan and was trusted by Rory. On the other paw, he was willing to do whatever it took to save Rory from Nazar. Sighing, the parent side of Thane won out, and he stood tall. "What should we do?"
"Have your forces attack as you plan, but instead of going through the trapped path Nazar planned for you, I will do so. I have seen how to escape the magical traps, and I can easily break through them all," Sargon explained as he pointed to the temple with his hand. "From there, I will create a summoning glyph that will summon you and your best troops to me from inside the temple. From there, you are on your own to find Rory and the others, as the spell will drain me quite a lot."
"How will you know who to summon?" Thane asked curiously.
"A rune can be drawn on any part of our attire that will connect the summoning spell and yourselves," Sargon explained. "However, the most I can summon is a ten. So pick your best men."
"I volunteer," Sir Horace stated.
"No, Sir Horace," Thane replied, shaking his head. "You will need to lead the army when Sargon summons me. Twiss will come with me, as will eight others you believe will best fit for the rescue."
"Very well, Your Majesty," Sir Horace bowed.
"Then, if there are no other objections, we will go with Sargon's plan," Thane stated, putting his paw down and sighing. "Originally, when we came here, our duty was to wipe out the Rot and protect our kingdom from its taint. But this has become more than that now. It has become a desire to fulfill the last request of one of the bravest heroes that Armello has ever seen." Holding back his tears, Thane looked at everyone with cold, steel eyes. "Scarlett is…dying. There is no way to save her. However, we can avenge her and fulfill her last wish by bringing her son home…our son home."
There were a few gasps as Sir Horace looked to say something, but Thane held his paw up. "As you know, Scarlett and I were a thing before she left after the battle. This is not a rumor; this is a fact. Nevertheless, Scarlett has informed me that Rory is my child, and I only learned of this now. I know you have questions, and I know that you all wish to know the future of Rory now that I know of this, but I ask you to hold on to that later."
Thane turned to his men from the castle. "You have all served my family and me well, including my children. You know them well and have all told me you would happily die for them. Rory is also my child. He is a good boy that I intend to look after since he will have nobody once Scarlett passes from her wounds. I would ask you to save him, a Prince of the Realm. Even if he is outside of my marriage with Queen Amber-like, you will save any other children if they were put in such a position because I know you love them deep down."
Each and every commander, including Sir. Horace, all narrowed their eyes, stood tall, and saluted with his hand, paw, or claw over their chest. The determination shown in their expressions as their knightly duty to the Royal Family overcame them.
Thane then turned to Twiss and her members of the Bandit Clan. "You have all raised Rory as if he was your son. He is a member of your clan. The son of your Queen. Your prince who has done whatever he can to prove himself and be kind and generous to you all. Scarlett has done so much for you. Even in her final moments, she is thinking about you. For the sake of Rory, your Prince, and for the sake of Scarlett's last wish. We will bring them together one last time."
Twiss nodded with sad and yet firm eyes. The other members of the clan are all similar in their actions.
Sighing, Thane drew his sword and raised it high in the air. "Then let's do this! For Armello! For Scarlett! For Rory!"
"For Armello! For Scarlett! For Rory!"
Rory hadn't felt such a headache from his skull since he tried learning some tree-jumping moves with his Aunt Twiss and accidentally fell on his head. His mother had practically torn both him and the squirrel a new one for that. However, this one he knew was from a far worse incident as memories of the attack on their campsite quickly returned to him. He never had seen so much violence in his life and knew some of the members of the clan who were getting killed left and right. To see them suddenly cut down or torn apart by the ferals, who were a nightmare all on their own, nearly made the poor wolf throw up upon rethinking it.
That feeling only worsened when he remembered seeing a black and red-scaled lizard stab his mother in the chest as she protected him.
Rory had tears in his eyes, screaming until something sharp hit him in the end, and he woke up in chains strapped to a chair in a dark, damp room. Whimpering, Rory hoped his mother was okay, and the worse had not happened.
The young wolf cup soon jumped as the door to his dungeon cell opened, revealing the same person who had stabbed his mother. Gasping in horror, the lizard, robed in dark purple with a sinister staff in hand, walked forward with his eyes gazing upon Rory. The staff looked wrong with something akin to black oil made with solid matter mixed with pale green wood. A glowing dark yellow and purple swirling orb at the top about as big as a bear's fist and pulsing with dark energies nearly made Rory pee his pants. The power felt like a poison in the air, sucking all positive emotions from his soul save for despair.
"Well, I see the prince has woken up," The lizard greeted with a chuckle. He leaned forward, his unruly eyes piercing right into Rory's soul. "Not too hurt, I hope? I would hate to sacrifice you without you being at your fullest.
"S-S-S-Sacrifice?" Rory gulped as the lizard backed away with glee on his face.
"Indeed," He spoke with a rather sickened tone of joy. "Your royal blood will be perfect for my sacrifice to the Worm. Soon, I will complete the ritual and spread its blessing to all the corners of the kingdom. The Dragon Clan will be avenged, and I will nail Thane to a cross as he watches his entire world burn to ashes and rot in the wake of the Worm."
"W-W-Who are you?" Rory asked.
"I am Nazar," He greeted with a bow. "I am the Champion of The Worm. And the new leader of the Dragon Clan. Soon, I will also be King of Armello."
"You can't be king! King Thane is king!" Rory said with a little more bravery than he intended.
"For now, he is, but I can assure you that your father will not be King for much longer when he and his forces arrive," Nazar replied with a wave of his hand. "He may try to stop me, but he is only delaying the inevitable."
Rory froze and felt his heart nearly stop upon hearing what Nazar said. "W-What do you mean by…my father?"
"Oh, that's right. They didn't tell you yet," Nazar whispered with amusement as he slowly walked behind a frightened Rory and pressed a hand on his shoulder. The smell of rotten flesh and utter decay made the wolf pup gag. "You see, I have learned all I needed to know from my little crow friends."
With a wave of his hands, a dark cloud of smoke and magic appeared in his palm, and a petite black whispy raven with glowing purple eyes appeared. It cawed before flying around a bit. "Imagine what I heard when I sent a few of them to spy on your camp? I was surprised to learn that the famous Bandit Queen's child was also the King's child. A love affair that soon ended in heartbreak and left the world not knowing of your true origins."
Rory's eyes widened. His mother and King Thane? A couple? Nobody ever told him this! And…And I'm…no, why wouldn't…did he…did Mother…
"When I learned of this from my little birdies, I decided that it would be better to take you alive than leave your corpse beside your dead mother for Thane to find," Nazar continued, walking back in front of Rory and smirking. "There is power in your blood. The power of the Winter Kings. Not to mention it is the blood of the Wyld's Champion. Sacrificing you to The Worm will be glorious."
"W-What did you say?" Rory whispered in horror. "My…my mother…"
"Oh, she's very much dead," Nazar teased with a laugh. "Even if she did survive the blow, the Rot dug so deep into her body that the vermin bitch is going to die eventually. Good riddance to-HEY!"
Rory had heard nothing else after hearing what Nazar had said. His fearful expression suddenly turned into pure rage as his eyes glowed with utter hatred at the lizard before him. His mind was denying that his mother, whom he loved so much, was either dead or dying, but his body was already reacting by snarling, roaring, and trying to bite the growling face of the bastard.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Rory screamed in hatred as he tried to escape the chains to claw the lizard to death. All that did was cause him to fall to the floor, but he refused to let that stop him, and he tried wiggling toward the amused Nazar. At least until the lizard kicked him in the stomach and nearly made him puke his dinner.
"Ahh, is the little puppy upset that I sent his bitch of a mother to Hell? "Don't worry, you'll be joining her soon," Nazar laughed as he left the cell while leaving Rory on the floor.
Mom…help me…Dad…help me…Rory thought as the images of Scarlett and King Thane appeared in his head. Please save me!
There was no point in being subtle with such a large force. The combined forces of the Royal Army and the Bandit Clan were marching in formation, battle drawn and ready. Each of them is calm, collected, and determined to see that the evils of the cult are paid for in blood. The closer they get to the old temple, the more open the field becomes as the dark sky starts to turn cloudy with the looming sounds of thunder echoing in the air. Nearly a thousand footsteps are marching in unison as the grand army prepares itself.
Up ahead, already waiting, is the largest group of ferals many soldiers had ever seen save for those who fought in the rebellion thirteen years ago. Snarly, growling, and hissing were the unfortunately corrupted corpses, now puppets to the cultist masterminds they protected against their will. Each was a rotting, white-eyed abomination that reeked of death and decay. Their skin was rotted, their teeth yellow, their nails, and the smell of fresh blood on them. It was more akin to a horde than the army that had halted before them with enough distance that neither side could strike from range.
The temple was a massive multi-square complex architecture that got smaller the further it went up. Its stone was ancient, the roots and vines nearly covering most of its outer barriers to show how much the forest had claimed it. Around the temple were broken statues of ancient worshiped beings that were now nothing more than stone remains of a forgotten era.
The two sides, one of the living and one of the dead, stood opposite each other as neither army moved. Up in front, his blade shining in the darkness, was King Thane with his friends Sir Horace and Twiss beside him. Thane turned to Sir Horace, who nodded to him. He then turned to Twiss, who gave him a sharp grin.
Thane took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said a quick prayer before opening them just as lightning struck the sky and rain began to cascade down upon them. As if this was the starting signal for the battle, the ferals roared and rushed towards the army, who quickly got into the planned formation as commanders issued their orders while signal horns were blown. Thane waited a few minutes before bellowing his first command. "Archers!"
Between the front and the back lines of the army, hundreds of bows were knocked with arrows pointing at the sky. They pointed at the sky while waiting for their King's following command. Despite the army of ferals coming closer with each step, nobody flinched or looked worried as they each trusted their King with their lives.
Once he felt the time was right, Thane raised his sword. "Fire!"
A cloud of arrows appeared in the sky a second later before descending back toward the earth. The aim was accurate, and the arrows found their targets as each one found itself in the body of a feral who screamed in pain before collapsing, either dying to a fatal blow or being wounded enough to stop it. More than a few arrows had hit the exact feral multiple times. Yet despite this thinning the horde, a large force was still heading toward the army. Yet they were still not afraid of their enemy.
Raising his sword again, Thane screamed, "Mages!"
From the protection of the first line, a long series of robed beings, all different races, stood ready with their staves lit up. Chanting in unison, they lifted their arms as magic circles began to appear around them, their eyes glowing with power. Their mystical wordplay became louder and louder like a mighty choir of the heavens until, in unison, they lifted their arms and shouted their final words.
CRACK!
The storm above seemed to roar like a dragon as thunderbolts slammed into the oncoming horde. Explosions of lighting filled the field as ferals screamed in agony before being completely obliterated. Dust and dirt filled the middle of the area as the unified spell had caused more than half of the ferals to fall in battle before a single sword could be swung. But now it was time for blades to be bloodied as every soldier drew their weapon.
King Thane, howling as loud as he could, commanded the charge before sprinting forward. Sir Horace and Twiss yelled and soon joined him, followed by wave after wave of soldiers. Unyielding in their fury, they also charged, matching speed for speed with the Royal Army. Both sides roared at each other as they got closer and closer. It was like a sea of silver streaking down to the confused and angry mash of undead abominations who slowly regrouped and saw their enemy approaching them.
Until, at last, they clashed.
And the storm below matched the storm above.