Chapter I: The Gathering

Hot, searing winds swept over the port-city of Amune as crowds bustled in the streets. Trade was beginning to boom once more since the Gathering of Races and the Defeat of the Lost One. Kids laughed and played in the streets as carriages rolled past, Noblemen and women glaring at the common folk once more.

All seemed to have returned to normal, except for the wind. The wind told tales of...something more.

Suddenly, the wind began to swirl and gather above the cities center, swirling and climbing higher and higher until a tornado larger than the city itself formed above the clouds. Lightning crackled and sparked as the tornado began to turn a dark red before bursting into flames.

The sky was crimson for as long as the eye could see. The people of the city just stood there, watching in awe and horror as the tornado began to speed up before racing toward the ground. The heat hit them first, searing hair and burning skin and eyes alike.

Then the flames and lightning hit, ravaging bodies and buildings without prejudice. Then the winds carried the debris and bodies and used them to cause even more destruction, all while a man looking out over the city from a rocky outcrop burst into gleeful laugher, his teal eyes bearing a rage and bloodlust like none other.

The wind blew past the man, knocking the hood of his cloak off, exposing his long gray hair streaked with silver, as well as his milky white skin, sharp pointed ears, and V-shaped pupils. The screams of the dying echoed up to the outcrop, causing the man to double over with laughter once more as he squinted his eyes with a sick, perverted pleasure.

Suddenly, a yell came from behind the man followed by a silver spear streaking through the air. The man smirked as the spear struck the barrier he had erected, sending sparks flying as a black shadow descended from the sky. A man with short, spiky black hair and furiously blazing red eyes released a yell as the silver spear appeared in his hands.

"Corenduilar!!"

Coren snickered as he sidestepped the man's thrust before ducking under the follow-up slash and blocking the knee that came in tandem. Coren had fought this man countless times, studied his every move, and came up with countless ways to defeat him. He was invincible this time. This time…he would not fail.

Coren slowly raised his arms, fire and water appearing at his knees, then earth and wind above them, then lightning, light, darkness, ice, nature, poison, metal, every single element appeared around him by the time his hands were above his head.

"I am the one, true king, Svek Lion-Heart! I will destroy you and take my rightful place on this world!!" Coren snarled as an onyx-black staff appeared in his left hand while a pure white throwing dagger appeared in his right.

The sounds of metal clashing against metal blocked out the screams of the innocents below. Coren sent out a missile of darkness followed by a blast of fire, but a thin, translucent shield of light formed around Svek before the projectiles hit. Another shadow appeared in the air above the two, his screams filled with rage that surpassed that of Svek's.

"You bastard!!!"

A man with short, fiery red hair and two small, pointy ears slammed down to the ground with a massive axe in hand. The man charged Coren, but the mage just casually lifted his staff to block the furious strike. Black spikes erupted from the staff, inflicted burning slashes on the man before Coren pushed him back and unleashed a blast of pure mana into his chest.

The man flew back, tumbling over the ground before hitting a boulder and wincing in pain. Svek dashed forward, his spear darting like a viper, but Coren easily deflected the strikes with his dagger. Svek doubled his effort to keep Coren occupied, seemingly for the red-haired half-elf to rejoin the fight, but Coren knew better.

A shrill scream came from the trees as another Coren, more specifically the real Coren, came out dragging a woman with honey-blond hair and dark brown eyes by her hair. Svek tensed as the clone next to him vanished into motes of dark light.

"You think I'm stupid, Svek? Did you really think that I thought it was only you and Wilric the Dark-Bearer? No! You never leave without your trusty healer…" Coren paused as a devious smile made its way to his lips as he fished around in a bag at his hip.

"Or your trusty archer, eh?" Coren threw the head of a woman with long black hair and once beautiful bright blue eyes at the feet of Svek. With a single, swift movement, Coren slit the healer's throat, her gurgled cries tore at Svek's heart as Wilric cried out in pain. A hollow wail.

Coren began to laugh maniacally as his staff transformed into a twisted sword of malevolent energy. He tossed the dagger in the air as he swapped his sword to his right hand before catching the dagger in his left.

"Come now, you should be able to fight even after I killed your two little playthings! Where's all that spunk you had a minute ag-"

Wilric and Svek were in front of Coren, weapons raised with snarls of pure rage on their faces. Coren just chuckled. Axe and spear worked together in perfect harmony, creating attacks that no one could hope to avoid or defend against, however, Coren was…different.

Coren parried the duo's attacks and lashed out with a gust of wind, sending them flying long enough for him to let go of his weapons and bring his hands together.

"Dual Cast. Mana Acceleration. Devoid."

Coren picked his weapons up once more, their weight felt abysmal, just as Svek and Wilric rushed towards him, their bodies glowing with a crimson aura. With a swing of his sword, Coren sent the two men into a flurry of defensive whirls and pivots as Wind Blades swept across the area is droves. The heat suddenly vanished from the air, the screams stopped yet their echoes still clawing at the ears of whoever could hear.

"Rise."

Grotesque creatures of rotting flesh with spikes and wings and twisted snouts full of razor sharp teeth leapt from the ground below the outcrop, their beady red eyes fixed on Svek and Wilric.

Coren no longer had that sickening smirk of his splayed across his face. He just stood there, standing still as a statue with a small frown on his lips as he watched Svek and Wilric fight off his reanimated army.

𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬, Coren thought to himself as he let his weapons disappear into small motes of light before crossing his arms and tapping a finger irritably. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

"Do you want to die, Champions? Do you want to watch your world be burnt to ash!? If not, then fight! Fight till your last damned breaths!"

More and more of the reanimated creatures poured forth, barraging the two Heroes and pushing them back more and more. The Svek's cloak was torn and ripped, exposing his features and numerous wounds.

Svek's golden, lion-like mane of hair shone brightly, contrasting severely with his dark cyan eyes and small pointed ears. Coren let out a deep breath through his nose before snapping his fingers, causing the reanimated creatures to vanish into dust.

Wilric had a gash across his face, narrowly missing his eye, and many more scratches and wounds dotted across his arms and chest. He looked ready to drop dead. Svek looked better, if only slightly, but that was because of his high regeneration speed that taxed his stamina.

"How do you expect to win against me if you can't even defeat that small batch of 𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘰𝘳?" Coren stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his left foot lazily drawing in the dirt.

"Do you…truly…expect to…win," Wilric asked in a breathless voice. Coren just chuckled softly in response.

"In my own way, yes."

Coren began to walk forward toward the two men, each preparing to defend against another attack. "Do you know why Wilric's title is Dark-Bearer, Champion," he asked as he look at Svek and paced back and forth with measured steps.

After a moment of hesitation, Svek said, "it is because he carries a great burden," before firmly clamping his jaw shut. Coren nodded.

"Yes…and no. It is true that Wilric carries a great burden, a dark one even, but that is not the full reason of his title. It is because he is the bearer of a dark blood. An evil blood. My blood."

Wilric tensed and strained to keep his pale face calm as Svek shook with laughter. "So you're telling me that Wilric, a man I have known my entire life, is my brother!? Don't you think I would notice if he was, Corenduilar!"

Coren gave Svek a sharp look and the man closed his mouth with a glare. "You, Svek, have been…crafted, to hold my blood, while Wilric is my own flesh and blood."

Svek snarled as Coren spoke in a lecturing, almost father-like tone. Wilric suddenly released a roar as he staggered forward and swung his axe. Coren backed away from the first sloppy slash before using his palm to direct the next away from him.

Before Wilric could attempt a third slash, Coren caught him mid-swing and tripped him to the ground. "Does it hurt…?"

Wilric stopped squirming to say, "of course these wounds hurt," but when Coren shook his head with an exasperated sigh, only then did Wilric understand what he meant.

"Of course this forsaken blood coursing through my veins hurts. Of course these scars you gave me hurt. Of course they do! All of them!!"

Wilric's teeth ground together as a faint red aura began to surround him, flickering like a dying flame. 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, Coren thought to himself as he planted a foot on Wilric's back. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦…

"Do you wish I was dead? That I would just vanish from your life?"

"Yes! Of course I do! Then the world would be safe from your terror!!"

"Do you wish it with all of your heart?"

"Yes!!"

"Do you wish it to be with every ounce of your blood and fiber?"

"I want you dead!!"

"Then wish it, my son. Wish it and it shall be…"

"I, Wilric Aulidain, Bearer of the Dark Lineage, wish for blood and bonds to be broken and severed, for this man to be gone, and never to return to the land of the living for as long as time itself!!"

The red aura surrounding Wilric expanded, covering both himself and Coren. Their bodies began to slowly melt and peel away as the ground split open to reveal a boiling pit of flames. A fitting end for a father and son, cursed with eternal life and madness.

Svek's voice came from the other side of the bubble the red aura had created, but it was faint. "You did well, son…your mother would have been proud of your deeds, and even prouder to see that you fulfilled your duty…"

Wilric snarled and said, "I don't want you to act like a father now! I'm simply killing a man that deserves a more painful death than this…"

Coren smiled sadly at first, but then it developed into a condescending half-smirk as he sank deeper and deeper into the flaming pit. Coren turned his head toward Svek, who was banging on the side of the red bubble.

"You have promise, boy," he said with a small chuckle, "but don't let yourself be fooled by pretty faces anymore. Search through the bags of your two dead companions and you will see what I mean. Rule this world fairly and make sure it is a fitting place for all who return…"

And with that, the most powerful and despised and feared mage in the world was killed. By his own blood was Corenduilar Naldeath slain and banished from the world, and by a curse as ancient as the world itself…did he return…