by Vipers ©
This story
was split into 10 parts. Jump to any of the segments from here:
1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
Note: This story
was originally submitted as one long story
and it was only broken into 10 parts for faster page loading.
"I see that the proud warrior is not a match for me!"
Atrus screamed as more wave of pain washed over him. He fell on his knees, his sword lying beside him. Roberto came for his aid, but was knocked down as soon as the spell hit him. Maya turned around and grabbed her throwing knives, but before she realized it the Dark Elves seized her arms and caught her. She struggled frantically in her bonds as the wave of pain swept through her body.
Anna, who stayed unnoticed, watched in dread as the priest tortured her friends. She knew that in her current state she was no match for the evil priest. But she couldn't understand it. First of all, Atrus' fire aura was more than capable of protecting him from spells. Then if the spell was truly powerful, how come she couldn't detect it? Even though she was not fully trained, she got the necessary skill to see through what normal Humans couldn't see... unless...
Suddenly she found it! Everything from the swamp to the event before her became clear. It wasn't a spell! Just like the way he had tricked them in the swamp into believing that they were attacked by the Dark Elves, he was tricking them right now! The Dark Elves in the swamp had done nothing but watched them fighting false enemies, until they found the chance of abducting her and Aurelia. The enemies they fought in the swamp didn't exist! Now it seemed that the priest was torturing them, but the reality was that he wasn't doing that. He just made them believe that he was doing that. That was why she couldn't detect it. That was why Atrus couldn't deflect it. The pain didn't exist!
Slowly she gathered whatever was left in her and concentrated her power. "BANISH EVIL!"
The spell created a wave of good power around the priest that charged him with mind-damaging attack. The spell didn't hurt him much, but was enough to make him break the mind control over her friends.
"Atrus! It's just an illusion!" Anna yelled before a fireball hit her on the chest, throwing her to the far wall.
"Fools! Now you die!"
Atrus recovered quickly and dashed forward. The priest saw his advance, summoned his mind control ability, and was delighted to see Atrus scream in pain. However, he missed one important detail. His sword was gone, and when he realized it, it was too late. The Rainbow Sword were flung from Atrus' hand and penetrated the priest' lower abdomen. The priest stared at the sword in terror. He could manipulate anybody's mind, but the sword was mindless. When he raised his head, Roberto was standing before him, holding the Kaiser Sword. With one quick stroke, he beheaded the evil priest. His frantic scream echoed in the tunnel. The staff fell down and the skull shattered upon contact with the ground, releasing waves of evil spirits into the air.
The Dark Elves saw the death of their leader in horror and quickly abandoned them and ran along the tunnel. Atrus quickly ran across the room and retrieved Anna's body from the crumbled rocks. She was alive yet badly hurt.
"Atrus... the priest..." Her voice came weakly.
"He's dead. It's all over." Atrus answered.
"No... it's not..." Quickly she explained what the Dark Elves were trying to do to Aurelia. "You must stop them! You can't allow the Gate to be opened!"
Suddenly from the end of the tunnel, a battle cry was heard, followed by loud clanking of metal. A battle was happening, and there could only be one explanation. The demons were here!
"Master..." Maya knelt beside him. "I'll take care of her. You and Prince Roberto should go and help Captain Hawk. The demons must be stopped!"
"But you're also hurt!" Atrus snapped.
"Master, I'll be okay. We'll meet you at the cave mouth. Now go and stop the demons!"
Atrus nodded, retrieved his sword and joined Roberto at the tunnel. He looked at the source of the noise, and from his expression Atrus knew he was nervous.
"It looks like we're going to fight a huge battalion of angry demons there..." He muttered.
"We can do this!" Atrus shook his shoulder. "Come on. Let's make your father proud!"
Roberto nodded. "After you, partner!"
Hawk tripped himself a couple of times trying to keep pace with Aurelia. The Elf was definitely faster on her feet, mainly because she wore simple clothes while he had his chain armor on his body and a lance in his hand. He was also tired from the battle. He was quite happy to see that the Dark Elves were now attacking the demons. They had left the battle quietly and he had been following Aurelia throughout the maze.
"Where are we going?!" He finally asked without slowing is pace down.
"I'm looking for a potential ally!" She answered.
"Ally?! What ally?!"
"The one we need to defeat the demons!"
He wanted to ask more questions, but there was no point on maintaining a conversation with her in this kind of situation. He could just hope that she knew what she was doing... and where she was going, because if she asked him to lead the way back to the main hall, they would definitely get lost.
Totally deserted, the tunnel ended with a steel door, fastened with a padlock.
"Somebody doesn't appreciate visitors..." Aurelia murmured.
Aurelia shook the padlock with all her might, but the padlock didn't give way. She glanced at Hawk.
"You can do lock-picking?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure... Stay back and watch..."
Hawk swung his spear and hit the padlock in a clank, spreading bright sparks. The padlock fell on the floor and the door was opened. They quickly ran inside...
... Only to find that the room was infested by a swarm of oozes...
An ooze jumped at the unwary Aurelia and quickly engulfed the Elf. Hawk ignored her cry for help, knowing that he could do no good, and ran back to the tunnel. He grabbed two torches from the wall and fried the oozes that tried to chase him. More oozes came out of the room, crowding the tunnel. Hawk slowly made his way to the room, herding the oozes back. When he returned, he spotted Aurelia's struggling form, covered by the oozes. Hawk dashed toward her, dropped the torch on the ooze and set guard. The ooze shrieked in pain as the fire engulfed it and Aurelia was free.
"Quick! Get the torch and watch my back!"
Aurelia grabbed the fallen torch and stood next to Hawk, their backs facing each other. The oozes tried to attack, but the torches did a good job at discouraging them.
"Are you okay?" Hawk asked.
"I'm stripped off my dignity!" She grumbled. "I need revenge..."
"Okay... Let's give them..."
The cry of war was shouted and both heroes attacked their enemies. The Human burned the oozes that were stupid enough to stand on his way and the Elf moved swiftly as the wind and defeated her enemies. Soon the room was littered with ashes and scorched mud.
"Just as I thought!" Aurelia suddenly cried.
She ran toward the corner of the room and revealed A small chest carved into the wall. She groped the surface, found the handle and pulled the lid. Suddenly the ground shook and a large boulder fell down behind the door, covering the entrance. And the worst was yet to come. The ceiling, which turned out to be flat, began to descend slowly. The entire room was a trap!
"Aurelia, what are you doing?!"
Hawk turned at his companion, finding that the Elf was holding a small statue of a dragon's head. The surface was made of solid gold and the eyes were made of small ruby stones. The dragon's horns and mandibles were extended from the main piece, yet the surface was smooth, as if the entire statue was made out of a huge solid gold. Unlike normal dragons' favorite poses, the golden dragon's expression showed no threat or intimidation.
"Agar..." Aurelia mumbled. "The Guardian of Earth... So magnificent, isn't it...?"
"Yeah, nice to meet your friend too..." Hawk said nervously while looking at the ceiling. "But if we don't get out of here really soon, the ceiling will turn us all into pancakes!"
"Have a little faith!" She snapped, still looking at the statue. "Agar will help us!"
"Yeah, sounds like a plan... But make it quick!"
Aurelia closed her eyes and chanted a spell unknown to him. He couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not, but he could swear he saw the dragon's eyes glow in red. The surface stayed rigid, but the statue seemed alive. He just stared in awe as light appeared from the golden surface.
"Agar, the Guardian of Earth!" Aurelia cried. "I summon you! Please help us!"
When Atrus and Roberto reached the main room, the battle was heating up. There was a huge stone platform on the center and a swirling black hole was on it. The Dark Elves crowded around the hole and killed every demon that emerged. A couple of High Elves stood at another corner of the room, supporting their dark counterpart with arrows. Atrus quickly approached them.
"You must be Atrus, one of the Humans sent to rescue us." One of them spoke in his melodious tone.
"Yeah... how is it going?" Atrus asked.
"Bad... No matter how many demons we kill, they keep on appearing!"
"Atrus, we got a company!!" Roberto yelled.
The cutlass missed Atrus by an inch as Atrus reacted to the warning. The huge demon attacked the High Elves and quickly scattered them. Before more damage was done, Roberto attacked. His Kaiser Sword might be light in his hands, but his plate armor wasn't. The demon quickly overpowered him before Atrus joined the fight.
"Hah! Puny Humans! You all are no match for me!"
"We'll see about that!"
Atrus charged the demon, followed by Roberto. The demon skillfully parried their swords, but had no chance for counterattack. As vicious as it was, the cutlass was not as powerful as the two other swords. Roberto leaped up and swung his sword down. The cutlass parried the sword and, unable to contain the power, was smashed into pieces. Atrus, seeing the opportunity, invoked his power again.
"LIGHTNING SLASH!!!"
Atrus dashed past him and a long cut across the demon's chest was created. The demon fell on his knees and groaned in pain and anger. Then he found that Roberto was standing in front of him.
"In the name of the knighthood of Aragon, I sentence you, death!" He declared. "Say goodbye to your horns, demon!"
The Kaiser Sword dove in and sliced the dazed demon in half. The demon's shattering cry echoed across the room, cheering the Elves and spreading terror to the demons. Flame burst from the halves and soon there was nothing left but two piles of ashes.
The fight was suddenly interrupted by a loud roar around the cave. Strange hot air began to blow around the room. When Atrus looked up, he saw a huge gold dragon flying in the air. The dragon's skin was entirely golden with two flaming red eyes. The wide wind was flapping in the air, creating wind turbulent around it. Moreover, the dragon was staring specifically at him.
"Do not attack, Atrus White Lion." The dragon's deep voice echoed along the cave walls. "I am Agar, the Guardian of Earth. I must thank you and your friends for freeing me from captive."
"Freeing you...?" Atrus asked, then he saw the form of Aurelia and Hawk waving at him merrily from the dragon's back. "Oh..."
"We must get out of here, Atrus White Lion." The dragon continued. "Come and climb on by back."
"But the Gate is still open!" Atrus protested.
"And it will never be closed until the time has come." The dragon replied. "Mother Nature will take care of it."
"What is that lizard talking about?!" Roberto spoke up.
"There's no time to explain!" Aurelia shouted from the dragon's back. "Hop in quickly!"
"Can you take more people along?" Atrus asked.
"I can take as many people as this realm can contain." The dragon simply answered.
"All right!" Atrus turned to the group of High Elves. "Climb up that... uh... thing... now!"
The High Elves complied without questions. The dragon landed and lay its wings so that they could climb up. Atrus turned to the battle at the center of the room. The Dark Elves were still fighting the unending wave of demons.
"Roberto, climb on that... whatever that thing is! I'll be right behind!"
Atrus ran toward the battle without waiting to hear Roberto's protest. He found an 'idle' Dark Elf who was tending his wound and spoke to him.
"Climb on that... lizard... We're going out of here!"
The Dark Elf stared at the dragon in terror, then dropped his head in shame. "Agar is here. That means we're doomed. We have angered the nature and the Gods. The time has come for us to repay our crime."
"What are you talking about?!"
"We invited these abominations. Therefor we will die with them. Mother Nature has finally spoken."
"Mother Nature?! What do you mean?!"
Atrus' question was soon answered as the ground shook. The ceiling crumbled and huge boulders started falling. A loud explosion was heard from afar.
"Go, Human!" The Dark Elf ordered. "We'll hold the demons while Mother Nature does her justice. That will be the least we can do to repay our crime."
Before Atrus could protest, he felt the air turbulent near him as the dragon approached and landed nearby. "We must go, Atrus White Lion. There's no time to waste."
Atrus stared at the battle before him. He didn't want to leave the Dark Elves despite what they had done to his friends, but they were determined to fight to the death. Nobody retreated in spite of the crumbling ceiling over them. Nothing could change their mind. Still unsatisfied, he ran toward the dragon and climbed up. Soon he sat on the dragon, holding one of many spikes along the its back.
More boulders fell from the ceiling as the cave was collapsing. Another explosion occurred at one corner of the room and molten lava gushed inside. The golden dragon quickly took off and flew gracefully toward the tunnel. From behind Atrus could hear pitiful cries and wails as the lava devoured anything that stood on its way. The ceiling along the tunnel began to collapse as well, but the dragon skillfully evaded the falling boulders. The golden dragon flew swiftly along the tunnel as the huge wave of molten lava flowed in and crept along the tunnel.
Then something struck his mind. "Anna! Anna and Maya! They're waiting near the entrance! We must pick them up!"
"I can't stop, Atrus White Lion. You must hang on my claws and retrieve them."
Atrus turned toward Roberto, who was sitting next to him. "Can you help me get the other one?"
Roberto stared at him nervously and swallowed hard. "I can try..."
They slowly made their way along the dragon's body and under its wings. The flapping created much movement on the dragon's body, making it hard for them to get strong support. They finally made it to the dragon's feet. Atrus hung on the right feet while Roberto was on the left. The dragon opened its claws, allowing them to slip their legs inside the gap and hang on them. Roberto seemed to have extra trouble due to the heavy plate armor and the gigantic sword strapped on his back.
"We're nearing the entrance. Get ready." The dragon signaled.
Atrus could see the entrance clearly, but in inverted way since he was hanging upside down. He could see two figures on the cave. One was lying on the ground, and he knew it was Anna. He took a deep breath and prepared himsElf.
"ANNA!!
MAYA!! GET READY!!" His cry echoed along the tunnel.
(next)
This story
was split into 10 parts. Jump to any of the segments from here:
1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
Note: This story
was originally submitted as one long story
and it was only broken into 10 parts for faster page loading.