Chapter 4: True Darkness Rise
As the poker neared his face, Terror in a kneeling position with two guards by his sides, was anxious, he got angry stood up, throwing the men holding him to the floor, breaking the chains that binded his hands, to the shock of all Grim's men, he lifted the guard by his left side, up and slamming him into the guard holding the hot poker, he then turn round and punched the guard standing at his right, so hard he passed out.
"I wasn't paid that much to get my face burnt" he said to himself. he looked up and discovered that all the men in the woods have encircled him with general Grim at the middle.
"Now I'm loving this, lets fight like real men" Grim said pulling out his sword, with an uneasy speed, he swings the sword with such force you could almost hear it cutting through the air, Terror not expecting such speed from such a huge man, dodged at the last seconds, but still the sword grazed his cheeks, leaving a little cut in his left cheeks.
"Nice, a worthy opponent" said Terror, as he charged towards Grim elongating his claws at the last second, trying to strike Grim. But Grim waited and when he felt the claws were close to his face, he moved his head back and with a swift movement, he used his knee, to hit Terror so hard on his belly, Terror keeled over on his kneels, and realizing this man is unusual.
"looks like I underestimated you, Grim right",Terror asked, unbelieving the strength of this man.
"Well what did you expect from a general, and how do you know my name" Grim asked, not really shocked because he was a really famous man in the whole of Aitoro, and General to the first battalion.
"What can I say, I do my assignment well" Terror looked to his side, and with force he ran towards one guard, and ram into him so hard he fell to the floor and he started running deep into the woods. the archers atop the tree shot their arrows at him but he dodged them all still running
"Till we meet again Grim".
"CHASE HIM DOWN, DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE" Grim shout at the top of his voice.
As they were chasing down Terror they lost him, he was just to fast for them to keep up.
"we loosed him sir" said one of the soldier.
"don't stop, scout the whole forest, he couldn't have gotten far" said Grim fuming, finally he had a chance to teach that bastard a lesson.
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Emperor Gilhelm and his elites warriors atop strong horses matching with the 2000 men Arion gave him, right now very close to Gully.
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"They are close my lord, the Emperor will soon reach Gully" a soldier said running into the throne room informing King Cirius with Bella and Aidan by his side.
"How many were they"Cirius asked.
"our scout said they are more than a thousand" replied the soldiers.
"My king we can't win this they outnumber us three to one" Bella said with concern in her voice.
"we will meet them outside the city so it will be hard surrounding us" Cirius Said ignoring Bella, "Bella hold the druid in here in case we are to bargain" said Cirius, with their head turning and seeing Dandier hands binded by hard ropes, and a magic suppression cuffs in his left wrist.
King Cirius handed over the keys of the cuffs to Bella.
"prepare the men for battle" King Cirius said to Aidan.
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"split the soldiers let's see the legendary Cirius fight a thousand soldiers with his small forces" Gilhelm smiled to himself.
his men did as he said, and up the cliff far away they waited after some hours passed by, they started hearing screams and it was none other than King Cirius and his men.
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King Cirius charged with speed, even if deep down he knew this was futile, the Emperor soldiers down were too much even for him but he did not show it, making his men believe he knows what he was doing.
Soldiers collided, from atop his horse he swings his sword like someone without something to loose. Meanwhile general Aidan sat atop his horse with a mace in his right hand swinging vigorously, and bashing into his enemy's skulls, with his big mace he had killed four men on the spot. And as a general he made sure to protects the king's rear.
Cirius held a very great sword it was large, but very sharp, many men tried to avoid Cirius part but were unlucky, he swing hard and now he was joyous, seeing it wasn't long the battle started and he had killed more than 20 men, but the smile soon dropped noticing all his men around him were failing, only few of his men left. he looked up and notice Gilhelm with a smile on his face and at least a thousand more soldiers by his side.
"My lord, sorry for the outcome but we have to retreat" Aidan said.
"How can I be the most powerful king now if I start failing in battles" Cirius said with his voice down casted. And at that moment he heard a faint "RELEASE" from where he stood, looking up he saw arrows raining down on him and his men at the last moment he and Aidan raised up their shield, above their head blocking the arrows from piercing them
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"Go down there and arrest all the survivors, Cirius never saw this coming" Gilhelm said with a smile on his face after winning today's battle.
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Terror after running for hours saw a camp, he doesn't know this people and he doesn't care, it was night so when everyone were fast asleep, he tip toed to the one standing guard, he silently removed his dagger, using the hilt and hitting him hard on the head, and the man passed out instantly.
He went to their horse, untying one. then left there as quietly as possible. when he was out of range, he mounted the horse and started galloping towards the direction of Gully.
"I have tried, I will pressure them to pay me half of what I was promised" he thought to himself.
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After galloping for a day, he finally reached Gully, he pulled his horse to a halt because the sight was not promising right there on the floor, he saw dead men wearing the armor of the guy that hire him and he saw men wearing red armor, the color of the Emperor's men checking for survivors and killing them instantly. it wasn't a pretty sight.
Then he saw someone fighting hard but was later handcuffed and arrested, and he was shocked to see it was non other than general Aidan, the one that hired him.
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Emperor Gilhelm atop his horse, it was a great stallion, it was huge and by it's stature you will know it's a very powerful horse.
"where is your king?" Gilhelm asked Aidan, who's gaze bore nothing but total resistance."So you do not wish to speak, prepare to take him to Temple arizea",
**As the name implies it is a temple ran by women who only collect orders from the Emperor, they torture men to the point they are broken, and only take orders from them, of course dark magic is involved because the men forget their name and who they are and only go by what their mistress call them. Terrible place if you ask me.**
Aidan immediately spoke up, fearing to be sent there "if any harm should come to me, your precious druid dies" Aidan said smiling. "But if you release me you will reach Gully with Dandier still alive" Aidan now feels lucky for having something to bargain with.
"How am I sure you speak the truth" Gilhelm asked, really not wanting anything to happen to one of his close friend and advisor.
"I give you my word, give me a head start" Aidan said.
"Release him, if anything happen to Dandier, you will wish you were dead" Gilhelm promised Aidan.
They released Aidan. he took his horse an ran as fast as he could as he reached a safe distance he released a flaring firework, it was a signal to inform Bella to release the druid and run away from the city.
***********
Gilhelm reached Gully, and increased his pace, within minute he reached his castle and he ran straight to the throne room and on the floor with his hand binded together was none other than Dandier, very weak but still alive, Gilhelm reached there, picked him up from the floor and placed him on one of the chairs of his advisors.
"How are you doing, I make sure those bastards pay for what they have done to you" Gilhelm said meaning every word.
"I'm alright my lord,give me a couple days and I'll be back to my feet" That was all Dandier could manage to say.
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After few months, Gully went back to the way things were, the people that flee, returned. the masons and builders were working really hard erecting the walls of Gully to it's former glory, and as a new order, the Emperor said that they should erect another wall protecting the gate to the city. they made it so high it was almost impossible to climb, and the two corners of the wall, they erected towers where archers stood every hour. the new fortification of the city was top notch, and it was so because they do not want another attack as the last one.
In the throne room, sat Emperor Gilhelm and few chairs to the sides sat his advisors. they were deliberating on matters concerning the city, and the Independence Arion asked for.
"My lord, that is a request we can't grant, it's is very selfish of Arion to request that of you in your time of needs" Rolm, the minister of public affairs spoke up.
"My lord can I add, if the other kings find out about this, there will be war, and judging by our soldiers right now, we don't have enough men to fend of large scale attacks if there should be one, They are not well skilled and are not even much to start with" said general Grim.
"My advisors I know you want nothing else but what's good for our Province, but I already gave him my words which hurts, if I go back now, it will mean nothing" he said and with this he dismissed the council.
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Wandering for months, is King Cirius, after that war, it has not been easy for him, if not for the ring he bought with his fortune from a witch, that enabled him to disappear at the point of his failure in the battleground, he would have been rotting in Gully dungeons by now, if the Emperor would have been that nice to him after what he had done. But the problem was the ring malfunctioned it seems, it did not carry Aidan along and it brought him to the dark forest. he has being unable to leave since then.
Cirius now on his own, unshaven, and unkept, he looked homeless, and he hates this so much, was trying to light a fire to keep himself warm and cook the rabbit he caught, he was so hungry it has taking days since he ate. finally after enjoying his meal he went to the corner where he cleared and laid down there and some time went by but finally he gave into sleep.
#### IN HIS DREAM:
the sky was red, the river in front of him divided, giving path to land, but was totally black, at the far side in between the river he saw a woman, which no one could see her face due to her unkept hair blocking ones view from her face, but he could see two red light in the shapes of eyes glowing through the hair, where her eyes were meant to be, and she had a very long and crooked claws with blood dripping from them. then he heard a voice from the strange woman.
"Come to the cave, that touches hell. follow the black cloud" she said with a crackling voice
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He woke up with a start, he felt nothing but fear for the first time, this sounds dangerous, but it was the only way he was sure of leaving here. he got up, fastened his sheath to his belt and kept his right hand on the sword Incase of impending dangers should arise.
He looked up in the sky and right there is actually a black cloud, it is a really strange cloud, it had the shape of an arrow if one looked closely. right now it points towards east. and so Cirius started his journey.
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He has taken 7 days, roaming the forest and resting at night. finally Cirius came to the mouth of a cave, it was a strange cave, going down into the earth.
"This must be the cave that touches hell, what a weird place" he thought to himself.
he walked in, the deeper he gets, the hotter the area get, as if it was going to burn down. after walking for hours he saw light at the far end, he increased his pace.
Reaching there, it is an opening, at the far end of the wall, is lava streaming down from up, and it was the only source of light there, and right there in the middle stood three identical women wearing thick black robes, matching the description of the woman in his dream days ago, they surrounded a fountain containing thick red liquid substance and In the fountain was an Amulet, hung on the hilt of a sword standing with it's tip to the floor on it's own.
"We have being expecting you Cirius" the women spoke in unison.
"Why me" he asked wondering why, three strange creatures would be expecting him
"We know of your ambition to rule over Aitoro, And we will give you the power to become Emperor of Aitoro" They said in unison, small giggling can be heard echoing throughout the cave.
"For what price?"Cirius asked knowing not to trust dark sorcerers or witches.
"All that our gods want is for you to give the whole of Aitoro to them, making them the only ones to be served in Aitoro" They said laughing strangely but quietly in unison.
Cirius doesn't like trusting people but he was in a tight situation, if he should go back, the Emperor will surely kill him, not to mention the fact that he knows deep down that he will be tagged a fugitive for the rest of his life.
"and what can I do to have this power" Cirius asked more determined to take away that smile off Gilhelm face.
"just come forward and drink the red liquid from this fountain" they said pointing their crooked fingers at the fountain
He went forward, one of the witches bent forward and scooped a reasonable amount of the liquid in a skull and handed it over to him, he took it, on reaching his nose, he found out it was blood, he threw his nose to the side, trying to avoid the offensive stench of the blood. he later managed to drink it, he stopped halfway.
"FINISH IT"the witches yelled, Cirius held his nose with his hands, and gulped down the whole thing."Now kneel, and close your eyes"They ordered, He did as he is commanded.
They started chanting in a strange language, then the one that handed him the blood to drink, came forward, took the amulet from the hilt of the sword where it was hanging and placed it on Cirius's neck. they kept chanting, she then picked up the sword from the fountain where it stood alone, she moved forward where Cirius was still kneeling,
"stretch out your hands" she commanded, in a kneeling position he stretched out his hands, she then placed the sword in his hands. "Now rise" she said in an ordering voice. feeling new power rising from inside him, he rose observing the sword in his hand, it was unusually black at the hilt, but very huge, extremely big for a normal man to wield, but he held it with ease. looking up he was confused. in his front now stood a particular lady, and the other three women seem to have vanished.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Veticus",she smiled replying in a strange voice of and elderly woman, that doesn't seem to fit as young as she is.
"Now place your old sword in the fountain" she said. Cirius went forward and did as she said, and immediately the sword and the sheath melted.
"where do you wish to go my lord" she asked.
"Take me to Gully" Cirius said as claws started coming out of his fingers.