Ultimate Assassin Saga: Woodlands

The wind blew through the Tundra, the snow falling slowly to the ground and filling up the land for the latest day. It snowed during the day, and at night, it stopped snowing so one could look upon the night. The Tundra was a beautiful land of ice and snow which allowed one to look upon it with majestic awe. However, it was a majestic sight and no one who cared for nature would say otherwise.

Though he wasn't an avid nature lover, Acheron did love the majesty of the Tundra and its white beauty. It was far different than his own home of Dalkia which was nothing more than cities, towns, and blood red skies with black lightning that streaked across the sky. Coming from Dalkia to see this beautiful land, it was amazing that the two lands could exist at the same time on the same Plane and not destroy one another. He knew that his brother, the Emperor of Dalkia, would like nothing more to draw the rest of the world under his reign of terror, making them live under the blood red skies, but he didn't believe that was going to happen.

Azrieal was no longer relevant in his life at this moment. There was only one person that meant anything to him at this time, and once he found her, even if she didn't want him to, he would protect her with every fiber of his being. He was sure that Trissieal would welcome him coming, and if he knew her as well as he thought he did, she would know that he was coming. She did have powers, though how extensive they were he had no idea. For all he knew, she could see into the future and saw that he was coming to her.

The Chaos Demon had left the Empire that he'd helped to carve out and he'd decided to never return. He wasn't loyal to the Empire or the Emperor himself. He was loyal to himself and what was best for him. When the Emperor had given him the orders to find Trissieal and kill her, he'd know that he wouldn't be able to carry out those orders. So instead, he'd left the Empire and deserted to the Wilds where she was suppose to be, but not to kill her. He'd come to the Wilds to protect her and the Angel Prince now that they'd fallen to the Mortal Plane.

The snow swirled around him, seemingly wrapping around him and accentuating his features. He was huge, well over six foot tall if not taller, and heavily muscular. He had long midnight black hair that fell to the middle of his back in a single, thick braid and emerald green eyes set in a bronzed, handsome face. He wore a short sleeve black tunic with a black leather breastplate over the top of it which had silver embroidery across the chest, black pants, knee high black leather boots, and a black leather belt with a Diamond sword sheathed at his left hip.

The Command Assassin was a powerful warrior and the fact that he'd just gotten through the battle that he'd gotten through five months ago was proof of that. He had originally come to the Tundra to make allies of the people who lived there, and after going through much, he'd finally made allies with the Elk Barbarian tribe of the Tundra. They were Humans, but they were a powerful warrior people who prided themselves on their strength and their kindness at the same time.

The Elk had recently become a lot more powerful than they'd been in the past. Before Acheron had come to the Elk, they'd been a simple tribe who'd sometimes been forced to go to battle with other tribes. The King at the time had been assassinated by his younger son by the means of poisoning and he'd managed to frame his older brother, the heir Darville, for the crime.

Darville had been Exiled, driven from the Elk tribe and forced to live outside of the tribe because of the crime that he'd been framed for. The people of the Elk, grieving for their King, had wanted someone to blame and Darcine was giving them that on a silver platter so they'd jumped at the opportunity. Once he'd been Exiled however, Acheron had gone with him and had pledged that he would help the man who was his friend to be returned to his tribe as the King of the Elk, his rightful place.

The Command Assassin had had no idea how he was going to do that at the time, but eventually, he'd done just that. They had met with the Bear Barbarian tribe, and after learning of the Seer who had seen thier coming, they had become close allies. The King of the Bear tribe had called the other Barbarian tribes to their position, and after coming together, they'd formed a sort of army before marching on the Elk tribe. Instead of going into a huge battle that would've ended in the Elk's slaughter, the two brothers had done battle instead.

During the whole process, the Chaos Demon had learned that a Demon that he'd known from his past was there and influencing the Elk tribe. He wasn't outright controlling of the new King of the Elk, but he had outright influenced him and he'd been unable to let that pass. So, he'd challenged him to a fight, and after a short time, he'd easily killed the Demon with his bare hands.

Darville had won his battle with his own brother, and because of that, he was declared not only the King of the Elk, but the King of the Tundra. Every tribe of the Tundra had been brought under one banner and they'd agreed to dissolve into the Elk tribe. Then, they had built onto the Elk village and had created a powerful defense. With that done, the Command Assassin had decided that it was safe to leave them and not have to worry about them being killed.

Acheron stopped walking and he stared out across the white snow of the Tundra. The snow that was falling from the sky was slowing and he knew that pretty soon it would stop. He'd been in the Tundra in more than six months, and with being in the Tundra for so long, he knew the cycles of the darkness and the cycles of the light. The snow would stop soon, and while there would be a few minutes of sunlight, the moon would come out almost immediately as well as the twinkling, beautiful stars.

Just as he knew would happen, there was a slight moment when he could see the golden sun, spreading its warmth and its golden rays. Then, the sun sank low below the horizon and the dark sky was filled with the lights of the silver stars. The moon was waning, and because of that, it was very small, but it still created a little light, though way too little to light a path. However, he didn't have any worry about it.

He could see in the pitch darkness. All he needed was the slightest bit of light and he could expand it in his eyes, making it refract off of the darkness around him, lighting the area in his own only took one sliver of light for him to do this, and because of this, he was considerably dangerous. After all, there weren't many people who could do that, not even the majority of Demons could do that.

The Chaos Demon knew he had to continue to move on. If he didn't, he could be come upon by forces of Dalkia who wanted him dead. He could handle one or fifty agents who wanted him dead, but even he could be taken down by sheer numbers. Numbers was what ended the lives of even the greatest and most powerful of warriors, no matter what his skills were.

The Command Assassin could see a large cliff straight in front of him, and while he would prefer being able to go around it, he knew better. If he went around it, it would take him longer to get out of the Tundra and he wouldn't be able to reach the border of the Whispering Jungle for another few days. He couldn't have that. He had to get there before tonight was over. Usually, when night time came around, he would settle down for the night and leave the next morning. However, he wasn't doing that now. He had a feeling of urgency that he couldn't get rid of and he knew that the only way for it to fade was to get out of the Tundra.

He had to before something bad happened.

Acheron sighed and he set out, walking slowly towards the cliff. He would just have to go over it, and while he knew that was no problem, he kept getting a bad feeling. He didn't know what it was and he couldn't explain it, but it wasn't going to keep him from doing what he needed to do. The Whispering Jungle was his next stop, and even though he knew that Trissieal was probably in the very center of the Wilds in the Open Plains, he also knew that he wouldn't be able to protect her if the Dalkian army came for them when he had no allies. That was why he'd made allies with the Elk tribe and it was the reason why he'd made allies with the Amazons along with the Wood Elves of the High Forest.

He kept his eyes scanning as he walked towards the cliff. He knew that if anyone came up to him, they would be seen and they would die. Also, he had his aura reached out in all directions ahead of him, behind him, and both flanking positions. So far, he sensed nothing, but the bad feeling in his gut persisted and continued to grow stronger as he got closer to the cliff.

The Chaos Demon did his best to ignore the feeling as he reached the cliff and he made his way up the incline. He sensed nothing still, but when he reached the top of the cliff, he could feel the bad feeling grow into one of dread. If he'd been Human, he would've been paralyzed by the bad feeling and probably disabled by it. However, he was a Demon, and because of this, he was able to still move despite the feeling that filled his gut. And move he did.

He stood on the edge of the cliff and he looked down. There was a wide expanse of snow out below, but he knew that it had to end eventually. There were rocky ruins buried slightly beneath the snow, hinting at the civilization that had once existed here, but the remains - as well as the history of those remains - had been wiped away by the vestiges of time and nature. It was truly a sad sight, but he knew that he could do nothing about it. He was no history buff and he wouldn't even know how to begin recovering the lost nations or lost peoples.

The Command Assassin leaped off of the cliff and he fell through the air. His boots landed hard on the hard packed snow and he rose to his full height. Anyone who saw him at that time would've thought that he was a giant on the rampage and more than likely would've fled. However, the Tundra was barren of life save for the Elk tribe and a few animals. He started to walk once more, his boots eating up ground between him and the cliff, but he stopped when he felt the power of the bad feeling once again.

He turned around, staring at the cliff he'd just come from. It seemed that the dread came from that cliff, and while it wasn't truly relevant, he was curious. He wanted to know why it was that such a feeling would permeate the ground here and he was going to find out. So, he turned around to face the cliff and he walked back towards it, standing five feet from it. As he walked around the cliff, he reached out and ran his fingers along the snow as he walked around the cliff, some of the snow falling off as he touched it.

As he reached the east end of the cliff, Acheron frowned as the snow fell from the cliff and revealed a hidden opening. The entrance to the cliff was huge, over twenty foot tall and perfectly rounded. It was large enough to admit anything in and out of it, but after being so long under the snow, there was no telling if there was anything still alive here. More than likely, anything that might've been within the cliff would be bones by now, but he was curious and he wanted to see what was inside. He had a hard time dealing with his own curiosity, and while he knew that his curiosity could get him in trouble - or worse, killed - he found it impossible to curb it.

The Chaos Demon entered the opening and he walked easily through it into the cavern beyond. As he looked around, he saw that the walls had been long smoothed out by some sort of natural heat and he could tell that this was construction, not nature that had performed this. The cavern was huge with open spaces, but there was no building or living construction that he could see within. The floor was made of carved limestone and his boots made loud echoes as he walked down into the huge, open area of the cavern.

He looked around, searching for any sign of living life or even bones from the living, but the floors were meticulous. There were no bones, no corpses, no nothing to show that this cavern was lived in. However, due to the unnatural heat within the cavern, he knew that something had to have lived here. He didn't know what could've lived within the cliff, but something had to. He narrowed his eyes as he searched the surrounding cavern, and much to his surprise, there was a carved out hallway to the far right, nearly hidden by the stalagmites that grew from the roof down in front of it.

Smirking, the Command Assassin set off down the hallway and he noticed the same thing that he'd noticed before. It was all carved out by an unnatural heat of some sort, and while he walked deeper, he tried to figure out who could've built this place. The openings were far to large for even the Giants, and besides that, Giants weren't well known for their construction abilities. The other Dark Races - Orcs, Ogres, Goblins, and so on - were even less likely than the Giants because they were simply too small minded to create such an area.

Acheron stopped halfway down the hallway and he narrowed his eyes. He perked up his ears and he could hear the sound of breathing, but it was louder as well as deeper than he'd ever heard before. He reached out with his aura, searching deep into the cavern ahead, and when his aura brushed against another's, he frowned. He could sense a powerful aura up ahead, and judging from that aura, the creature was extremely powerful. He smiled widely and he knew that he was going to have a battle to fight, but it wasn't going to be easy.

The Chaos Demon reached down and wrapped his arm around the hilt of his Diamond blade. Then, he drew the weapon in a slow, deliberate manner. The blade glimmered in the near complete darkness and he stared at the newly acquired blade, his awe renewed by seeing the blade. The blade was as long as any broadsword, but instead of being made of iron, the blade was made of diamonds. He smirked at the thought of being able to jump into a simple battle once more and he lowered the blade down to his leg before setting off once more, walking slowly down the cavern tunnel towards the next area where he would meet the constructor of this cavern.

When he stepped out into the next cavern, he was taken by surprise and he stared in amazement at what was within the cavern. He didn't see the one the aura belonged to, but there was something even more amazing in the room. Against one wall spanning the entire wall was a heap of treasures. Silver, gold, copper, jewels, and other such treasures glinted and glowed in the darkness against the wall. He could see many different chests among the treasures and he knew that each one of those chests would be filled with treasures. If he was a treasure hunter, this would've been the jackpot and he would be able to retire. However, he was no treasure hunter, and now that he saw the treasure, he had a pretty good idea what he was up against here.

The Command Assassin was drawn from his reverie when he heard the breathing once more. He looked deeper into the cavern, his eyes narrowed so he could search for the one who was making the breathing noise. He saw a huge heap of silver and white in the corner, but he couldn't tell what it was just yet. However, he had an expectation of what it was and he knew that he was right. He knew what this creature was and he knew the creature would wake soon. There was no way that his powerful aura within the room wouldn't disturb the creature and bring it to battle.

Acheron waited for the creature to unwind and reveal itself. Just as soon as the thought filled his mind, the creature raised its serpentine head and it licked its lips, widening its jaw in a bone cracking yawn. Then, the creature placed its tree like legs under its body and rose up slowly to its full body. It was covered from head to toe in thick silver and white scales with spines all down the back of its head to the tip of its long tail. It had two membranous wings that protruded from its back, and when it rose to its full height, it spread those amazing wings, showing the power within it.

The Dragon lowered its glowing blood red eyes and it took notice of the Chaos Demon within its lair. He stared up at the creature, unimpressed by the creature, but it was a beautiful thing. He'd seen many Dragons in his time, but never one with white and silver scales. He wasn't exactly sure what to call this sort of Dragon, but he decided to settle on Snow Dragon. Not that it really mattered though. The Dragon would be dead in a few minutes and that was all there was to it.

The Command Assassin drew magic into every fiber of his body and he spoke a single word of a spell. He felt his skin harden to that of a diamond's strength, making it near impossible for those long, razor sharp fangs the Snow Dragon had to pierce his skin. He knew that hardening his skin wouldn't completely keep him safe, but it would prevent him from dying right away. Most of the attacks the Dragon could make on him would be superficial cuts at best and it just might save his life. He wasn't afraid of the Dragon, but he knew that the creature was powerful, and if it got lucky, it might kill him, but he didn't believe that would happen.

"Hello ugly." Acheron said, his voice filling the cavern and echoing off of the perfectly carved walls. He knew that the creature was less than sentient so it wouldn't feel fear, but when he was done with it, the beast would know what it was to feel fear. He turned the Diamond blade, twisting it in a tight circle and he took a step towards the creature, ready to do battle with the creature right now.

The Snow Dragon threw back its magnificent head and let loose a bone shivering roar that echoed off of the walls of the cavern. The horrible sound echoed back to his hears, sending shivers up his spine, but they weren't shivers of fear. They were shivers of excitement. He was excited by the prospect of battle with a beast that he'd never fought before. He'd never encountered a Snow Dragon before, but he'd heard of them and they were suppose to be one of the weaker members of the Elemental Dragon castes.

The Chaos Demon gripped the hilt of his Diamond blade and he readied himself for battle. Suddenly, the Snow Dragon shot forward, moving much faster than he would've thought such a huge creature could move. He barely had time, but he was able to dodge out of the way at the last second. The Snow Dragon barreled past him, his legs barely missing running into him and boiling him over.

The Command Assassin rolled across the rocky floor and he came up to one knee once more. He turned on one knee with his Diamond blade held at his side and he narrowed his eyes up at the huge creature. It was now standing in front of the only exit out of the cavern with its wings spread wide to prevent him from going anywhere. It lowered its mouth and it showed its razor sharp fangs in a show of menacing power. He wasn't intimidated by this however.

Acheron blanked his expression of all emotion and he rose slowly to his feet. He held the Diamond blade down by his leg and stared at the Snow Dragon. He knew that he couldn't just be on the defensive. He had to go on the offensive eventually and now was the best time. So, with Diamond blade in hand, he lunged forward with his sword trailing out behind him and his emerald eyes settled on the Dragon, looking for a weakness.

He noted the Dragon was extremely slow on its feet when standing with its wings spread. The Chaos Demon shot forward even faster than before, nearly disappearing from view, and when he got close enough, he leaped into the air. He raised his sword high overhead and brought it down towards its skull, intending to slice right through its skull. However, the Snow Demon growled as it moved its head to the side, and as he watched, one of its wings swung forth, catching the full breadth of him, sending him flying across the cavern.