1 CHAPTER 1 1161 chaos

Marcus could barely moved his limbs, he had fought with all his might, all to no avail, his clan had been defeated, the dark overlord was getting more and more powerful everyday. He tried to get up, he did, but with much difficulty, he had abandoned the fight, when it was imminent that his clan had fallen, He had watched Atreus, the dark overlord kill both his parents and sucked out their souls.

leaning on a tree for support, he looked around, a bird fluttered in the branches above him and he froze, he needed to tread with caution, Atreus will not spare him, he knew that, ever since the prophecy of Agatha, the sorceress, Atreus embarked on a mission to annihilate the people from which his supposed "doom" would strike.

He took a step, he immediately felt a sharp pain in his side, he almost screamed, it was a bad stab wound, he didn't even realize he had been wounded, suddenly he heard voices nearby, Atreus was ordering his men to burn down the village. He scampered painfully away.

He half walked and half ran for a long time, clutching his side to stop his bleeding, he was losing strength, he needed to take care of his wound and get some rest, but at the same time, he needed to get as far as possible from Atreus and his men. He kept running and falling all thanks to the darkness.

After a long time, he saw a light, he got closer and closer, it was Habnus the farmer's house, he went in, Inside was warm and comfortable, a meal was roasting over a fire in a corner of the house.

"hello!" he called out with a mixture of desperation anxiety and fear,

he called out again, but no one answered, then he saw something, a puddle of blood on the floor, he followed the blood trail and saw the grossest sight he had ever seen, Habnus and his wife had been brutally murdered, the murderer must be a psychopath, Habnus' limbs and head had been severed from his body and his belly cut open, his wife lay dead by his side, a heavy piece of wood had been used to crush her skull.

"damn you Atreus" he cursed silently under his breath after throwing up.

He slowly laid down on the floor, many thoughts raced through his mind, in one night, just one night, he had lost everything he ever cared for, his parents, his friends, the whole village.

He was still thinking when the door flung open, he sprung to his feet, ready to fight for his life,

but alas it was Olvaris, a member of his clan, his white beards was stained with blood, he still clutched his blood stained sword in his hands, his father had often talked of how loyal Olvaris was, they had fought side by side against Atreus,

"Marcus" Olivaris called out with his grumpy voice, his eyes, colored with the shades of death

"O-li va-ris, Marcus said slowly, looking confused, he could smell the blood on Olivaris's sword, no he hadn't lost that ability, it was the same blood that formed a puddle on the floor, the blood of a fellow kinsman, a wicked grin had formed on Olivaris' face. Marcus slowly pointed at the sword, he was about to say something...

In a twinkle of his tired eyes, Olivaris charged at him, his sword raised high above his head, he brought down the sword with all his might, Marcus leapt away, Olivaris missed and his sword sliced a table in two.

"Marcus, it is over, give up, surrender to Atreus and he might let you live"

"you traitor!, you filthy wastrel!"

"oh, is that so?," Olivaris replied, grinning wickedly.

"my father trusted you, put his life in your hands, and this is how you repay him?"

"your father?" Olivaris said with a chuckle, "your father was a weakling" he said slowly but strongly

"he had no ambition, no desire for greatness, no hunger for glory. Your father was not fit to be a leader..."

both of them had started circling slowly around the fire, Olivaris, being the predator and Marcus determined to stay alive

"i believe in Atreus, and together, we will rule the world" and with those words, Olivaris charged again, jumping over the fire and pushing Marcus to the ground, he was seated on Marcus now, he lifted his sword and tried to drive it into Marcus's heart, but Marcus held his hand. They struggled for few seconds, Olivaris trying to drive his sword through Marcus' heart and the latter holding beck with all his might.

Olivaris' downward push was getting stronger and overwhelming, the sword was almost piercing him. The smell of the blood was stronger now. With one swift movement Marcus pushed the sword to the left, it cut a horizontal line across his chest, and stuck to the wooden floor. Marcus quickly stuck his forefingers into Olivaris' eyes, and as Olivaris screamed and clutched his face in pain, Marcus took his side dagger and stuck it into his neck.

Then there was silence, Olivaris was still on Marcus, he choked for some seconds as warm blood gushed from his neck wound, he as attempting to say something but his wound was to fatal, he could hardly spit out as much as a word before he fell face down.

"That is for Habnus" Marcus said as he pushed him off.

He got up and staggered to the door, it was not safe in the farmhouse anymore, Atreus and his men were still out there, and woe unto him if they suddenly showed up, full of uncertainty, he scampered into the darkness. It was a good thing that Olivaris had his horse outside.

He must find Agatha the sorceress, she could have answers to his questions, if there was a way to fight this battle, only she would know, it was a day journey to Agatha's Temple, so he started off, riding the horse like a maniac only stopping for the horse to have a drink.

At Agatha's Temple, it was cold and silent, the air always smelt different here, probably because of the numerous strange substances that Agatha uses in her potions and spells, Marcus had been here once before with his father, but then he was too young to understand why his father had brought him.

He walked into the inner part of the temple, where Agatha was most likely to be, everything was magical here, the candles never burned out and the flames don't move with the breeze, only Agatha could put them out.

He knew he didn't need to call her name, she could sense his presence, he was about to go out of the inner temple when he felt a touch, he turned around and almost died of fright, there she was, behind him, with a large, black serpent on her shoulders.

"I know why you have come Marcus, you want to defeat Atreus" she said in her shrill voice,

"Is there a way" Marcus asked desperately

Agatha looked at him and back at her black serpent that she was stroking.

"There is a way if you are willing"

"Of course I am willing, that monster just wiped out my village, and killed my parents, I need to know if there is a way" Marcus said, desperate as ever.

Agatha the sorceress walked to a pile of charms and took out a small shiny stone, and just as she opened her mouth to speak, she sensed the presence of Atreus, she quickly hid the stone, it was too late for Marcus to run as Atreus' men had surrounded the temple, Marcus looked around petrified, Atreus' men seized him and brought him down to his knees as Atreus himself walked in and stood face to face with Agatha.

"now lets see what becomes of your prophecy, witch" he blurted out sarcastically

"a prophecy is a prophecy Atreus, your doom is upon you"

"Atreus laughed mockingly, "i am the doom," and with that, he plunged a dagger into her heart.