The sight that greeted Imunzo was one that would stay with him forever. The corpse of Raiguarde was soaked with rain and blood, Imunzo felt moved inside just looking at his fallen comrade. When Imunzo had found him, there was no sign of Raiguarde’s beloved sword, the Zialisilyk and so Imunzo began to search for it. Imunzo eventually spotted the sword, it had been tossed over the hillside and was placed deep into the muddy, steep slide below. Being careful not to fall, Imunzo climbed down the hillside and pulled out the Zialisilyk and laid it next to Raiguarde’s body. He had allready, using the horse Raiguarde had acquired sent a message to Aaouron castle to get word to Valandt and was waiting for someone to come along to help take Raiguarde‘s body away for burial and that was a while ago now. “Peace be with you forever my friend” he said as he kissed the blade and laid it down on the chest of Raiguarde. Imunzo then sat by the body and began to say a prayer for Raiguarde. Imunzo then walked to the edge of the hillside and looked over it to the valley below. Sighing he recalled what had delayed his locating of Shadow. Imunzo was an experienced tracker and there was no-way that Raiguarde could have found Shadow first. `Something very strange is going on` Imunzo thought as he looked toward the horizon. Imunzo had seen Shadow fleeing from the scene as he jumped from tree to tree, heading for the direction of the sounds of a sword fight, there was no mistaking that Shadow was the one who had killed Raiguarde. “How, then, do you explain the fact that I was led to Shadow, a different Shadow, a fake Shadow” Imunzo said aloud. Suddenly a rumble of thunder filled the sky and Imunzo looked to it, he was surprised to see that it was cloudless. “My my you are the intelligent one, you catch on quickly for a mortal” a voice appeared from behind Imunzo, who at no real rush turned to face whoever it was. This mysterious person was covered in a black cloak and hood, which covered up his eyes. Imunzo attempted to look into the eyes of the man, but could not. “Show yourself, who are you?” Imunzo ordered.
“Time will come for me to reveal myself, but you may know me as the second” the man said coolly.
“The legendary second disciple of Goreoth” Imunzo eradiated calm as he spoke “All these centuries masking your identity, I do hope you will live up to expectation”. Imunzo could then see the disciple smile slightly. “Oh I never disappoint, I have big plans for this world. Murder, rape, pillage, your darkest nightmares becoming reality on a daily basis” the second disciple spoke with a sense of high anticipation and excitement. Imunzo gave the second disciple a mean stare, glaring at him intensely for a short while with no words. “Why the fake Shadow? you knew id find Shadow first so you create another to lure me away”
“You are a fast learner. The real Shadow has made a deal with us, part of that deal was killing Raiguarde”
“Was he that much of a threat ?” Imunzo said frankly.
“One that needed taking care of” the disciple seemed slightly disinterested as he spoke.
“And what about myself ?” Imunzo said carefully, to which the disciple smiled.
“You will be dealt with, like all humankind in this pitiful kingdom” his words were colder than ice, but Imunzo gave an equally cold stare back.
“I think I have had enough of your talk” Imunzo said defiantly and began to walk down the hillside.
“Halt samurai” came the voice, only this time it was much deeper and had an evil rasp to it. A lightning bolt then hit the ground in front of Imunzo, who refused to even acknowledge it. Imunzo turned to face the second disciple once more. “I am aware of the disciples use of magic, there was no need to display it, I will be on my way now” Imunzo’s voice was beginning to hint of anger.
“Here’s something to remember me by; remember my name as fury” and then the cloaked figure disappeared into nothing. Imunzo, slightly bemused began his walk back into the slope below. He stopped and looked at the body of Raiguarde. “You deserve better than this my friend” with that Imunzo picked up the Zialisilyk and slid it into his belt. Imunzo could no longer stay and wait for the men from Aaouron to arrive, he was to take the body there himself. Imunzo heaved up the body of Raiguarde and began to carry it over his shoulders, heading for Aaouron castle, where Raiguarde’s body could be taken back to the king, for a proper funeral, a soldier’s funeral.
Valandt was sitting atop his throne, bored as usual. `Waiting for the order to kill is much like waiting for a fine meal...` Valandt began a thought to himself as he lay back, slowly spinning the axe on its handle in his left hand. `... The longer the wait, the finer it will be in the end`. Valandt wet his bloodthirsty lips and smiled, almost evilly. This realization made him shudder slightly, he then paused and made sure he had a firm grasp of reality, the resumed being engulfed by boredom. Valandt yawned and stood up, stretching his leg muscles slightly and beginning to stroll around the upper castle grounds. Valandt ascended a flight of steps and came to a door at the beginning of a corridor, which he opened. As he opened the door, he was met with the sun shining directly into his eyes, which squinted and began to water slightly. Valandt continued his walk and passed one of the tower guards. Valandt smiled at the guard, to which he nervously smiled back. “May I have your bow and arrows?” Valandt asked the guard, who was caught slightly off guard at Valandt’s politeness. “Yes sir” the guard said, slightly mystified and he took of his basket of arrows and handed Valandt the bow. The guard remained standing, slightly in awe for a second, however it was a second too long for Valandt. “You may get out of my sight now” Valandt said, waving the guard away with his hand. “Pathetic” Valandt mumbled under his breath as the guard was leaving. Valandt then made his way to the edge of the walkway and looked over the wall to the ground below. Smiling, he put the basket of arrows over his shoulder and took up the bow. Valandt looked into the distance and aimed at a tree, some thirty yards away. Valandt reached around for an arrow and put it in the bow, then locked onto his target and fired. `Not bad` he thought to himself as he saw it fly in the distance and smack into the tree he was aiming for. Gaining in confidence, he looked around for his next target, he then spotted a bird circling the castle. Narrowing his brow and taking another arrow from the basket he took aim once more and fired. He almost found himself laughing at the feebleness of the bird as the arrow cut into it, causing it to fall to the ground with a bump. Smirking, Valandt looked over the edge of the castle wall and saw one of his men standing stationary outside the castle, on guard duty. Looking around to make sure no-one was looking, Valandt drew another arrow and aimed at the guard, his smile grew as he began to release the arrow. “Milord?” came a voice from behind Valandt, causing him to jump and fire the arrow harmlessly high into the air. A shocked Valandt, jumped around and shouted at the man standing in front of him. “How dare you sneak up on your king like that!” Valandt said, scolding him.
“My apologies milord, but we have news, passed on from Aaouron”
“Oh.” said Valandt feigning interest. “Wait. Aaouron is near Haidar. News of Shadow‘s capture I hope” Valandt said, overconfidently
“I am afraid not” The messenger sighed “The news, from Aaouron, being passed on by the samurai Imunzo is that of Raiguarde”
“Don‘t tell me he‘s been captured by Shadow” Valandt said, almost angrily
“He is dead sir” the messenger said solemnly.
“Raiguarde... dead?” Valandt refused to comprehend such a thing. Valandt felt a tear form in the corner of his eye and he began to squeeze the axe tight in frustration. Valandt’s sorrow soon turned to anger “My patience with that cockroach has run out, I want Shadow found and I want him found now” Valandt began to pace, the anger clear in his voice. “Send a hundred troops from every castle to Aaouron, and that's only the cavalry” Valandt bit his lip hard in thought, it began to bleed. “and get word to Calandria and Lord Enzaghe, I want them on this one. Double the price out on Shadow‘s head”. Valandt paused for a moment and thought “one more thing, put a reward on him being brought in alive, double the price of him being brought in dead”. The messenger nodded accordingly and saluted then left Valandt alone in his thoughts. `Now that bastard Shadow will pay dearly, im gonna make him wish he’d never been born` Valandt felt pure hatred course through his veins and grit his teeth hard. Valandt wished that he had another chance to end the life of the lowlife scum that was Shadow. Valandt roared out in anger and punched the castle wall in frustration. His hand throbbed heavily with pain as it cut open slightly but he refused to acknowledge it. “I‘ve been looking for you, seems even in your own castle you are a hard man to find” came a voice from out of nothing, suddenly Presto appeared alongside Valandt.
“Oh, you. Be gone wizard now is not the time for your trickery, I have things to do”
“Do you? what like fire an arrow into one of your own guards?” Presto said, his anger clear.
“You, you saw that?” Valandt said nervously.
“A wizard does not need to be present to see something. I saw it. Just what did you think you were doing ?” Presto attempted to calm his voice but couldn't.
“I-I, I don't know, I just pulled out the arrow...” Valandt’s voice trailed off in disbelief at what he could have done.
“Would you have done it, if the messenger had not arrived at that time ?” Presto asked, his voice was showing signs of calming down.
“Y-Yes I would have” Valandt admitted, his face turned white with horror at himself. Presto was slightly astonished at his king’s admission and narrowed his eye brows accordingly as he contemplated what he had just been told. Valandt suddenly changed his expression and looked into Presto’s eyes. “Have you found out a way to save Astral ?” Valandt demanded.
“Not yet” Presto said, a slight deflation in his voice “its more complicated than I first anticipated”.
“Well maybe you would find something if you spent your time actually trying to save her” Valandt said aggressively.
“I am trying to save her, what are you accusing me off” Presto said defensively. Valandt sighed and calmed for a moment. “Just go back to wherever it was you came and do not come and see me until Astral is walking and well” his voice was the most relaxed it had been for a while. Presto surrendered to Valandt and turned to head back down toward the library. “Wait” Valandt called to Presto before he was out of sight. Presto turned to face Valandt “yes sir ?” he said.
“Forgive me for my impolite manner, things are not all well” Valandt said awkwardly, he was not good at apologizing and had little practice.
“It is understandable, I thank you milord and I shall be on my way” Presto said, then bowed and left Valandt. Valandt then sighed and looked over the castle wall again, into the distance. The image of Shadow flashed before his eyes and he instantly felt the anger and hatred return. “Shadow, killing Raiguarde was bad, but you have just done the worst thing you could ever possibly do. You‘ve made me angry”
Presto descended the steps right after leaving Valandt feeling a little disjointed. He knew about Valandt’s legendary short fuse bad temper way back before he had even met him. This was far beyond any mere tantrum however. He was willing to kill a man, on a whim, something was definitely not right. Presto shook his head and made his way back toward the library, which was a good distance away passing along numerous corridors and by countless doors. Presto commanded the doors to the library open in front of him without really trying, he was much too engrossed in his thoughts to open them manually. Then there was the legendary masked slayer Shadow. Presto had been caught off guard by Shadow’s almost pleasant demeanour and he momentarily wondered how someone who talks with the serenity of a monk could be a cold hearted killer. A somewhat distant Presto walked toward the desk he had previously immersed himself in and shook his head clear to try and regain some logic back in his thinking. Presto sat down and stopped himself from yawning, this time he was determined to find a way to prevent the demons from killing Astral. Presto immediately dived for a book and opened it. The book had been a passionate red upon its creation, but had during the years that had passed faded in colour. This book was a specialist magic book, Presto figured if he could not figure anything out from the disciples themselves, maybe he could improve his magic ability and save Astral. Presto found the pages he had been looking for on healing and studied it intensely. Presto looked up suddenly, he was going to need some way of testing out his skills on a person. Realizing he was the only one around, he decided to cut himself open, in the interest of seeing whether he could mend the wound magically or not. A small dagger appeared out of nothing on the desk in front of Presto and he picked it up. Reluctantly he dug it into the palm of his hand until he could see the blood seeping from it. Pulling the dagger out instantly and momentarily reeling from the pain, Presto stared deep into the incision on his hand. It wasn’t very deep or long, but its intense sting was making it difficult for Presto to clear his mind. Biting his lip and gritting his teeth, he rose above the pain and glared at the wound. Before his eyes it began to slowly close back up. Presto could feel the intensity of the sting fading and smiled slightly, this caused him to lose all concentration which made the wound re-open and the sting to return, stronger than before. Presto breathed deeply and once more stared into the cut in his hand, it once again began to recede. Keeping his concentration level high, Presto continued to stare into the cut and watched it shrink smaller and smaller. The cut then sealed itself up, with it all the pain disappeared and Presto stared at his hand in slight amazement. Smiling and proud off his efforts, Presto began to check the desk once more for the book on the disciples which had previously caused him problems with its extensive use of Ancient Legian. Presto furrowed his eyebrows, the book was not there. Slightly confused, Presto made some books leap off the table lemming-like in order to check underneath them but this proved fruitless as it was nowhere to be found. Presto stood up in frustration and then noticed that he felt a cold wind flowing behind him. Turning to the windows he then saw they were closed. “Strange” he said aloud and began to rub his arms, the coldness was intensifying. The library now felt like a harsh winters day, Presto could see his breath in front of him. Frantically looking around, Presto called out “what sorcery is this ?” and with that all reality collapsed around him. Presto looked around, everywhere around him was black. Presto looked down to see if he had been blinded by something but he could see his red cloaked body clearly. Slowly looking up, Presto noticed a figure in front of him dressed in all black. Presto could see that this mystery figure was holding the book he was looking for. The hooded figure looked up toward Presto, who tried and failed in making out who it was. “The time has come to be taught a lesson in magic boy” said the hooded figure.
“What? Who are you?” Presto said anxiously. The hooded figure then smiled and chuckled to himself and pulled off the black hood and cloak and let it drop to the floor, it then disappeared as it did. Presto’s pupils dilated and he began to step back as he looked at the figure that stood before him. The figure of the grand wizard, Schard.