Zvire looked toward the dark clouds that continued to loom above the Legia sky and sighed. They had been riding almost relentlessly since leaving Hazajaro and had just resumed the journey along the way to Wajem. Zvire took in a deep breath and bit his lip, Wajem would be a welcome rescue for him. Zvire had grown alarmed by the constant lack of people around and longed to ride into a town that actually had a population. On long journeys it was very easy to ride for days without coming into contact with another person but now it had gotten to be to strange. Legia had become ghostly, Zvire felt that if he saw another town or village uninhabited or went atop another hill and could not see a single person from its peak he could crumble. Enzaghe was leading the other two, knowing the best route along the dirt track and dictating a pace which allowed him to keep a firm focus on his thoughts as well as his riding. Enzaghe wanted to blame himself for Calandria's death but couldn't, he felt that if he could blame himself, he could move on from the unyielding emptiness he was feeling. At the back of the group was Imunzo, who maintained a rigid look and stare into the distance void of any real meaning. He kept all his movements to a minimum, even his breathing seemed nonexistent. The track they were winding along oscillated around, never sure in which direction it was really going. Along the track was a series of built up rocks which came together to form a jagged rock formation, making the passage along the track a lot harder not allowing any shortcuts to be made. As the three riders passed along the track they were unaware that they were being watched, atop the rocks stood the figures of Kaiazal and Orscyar. Kaiazal strode around the top of the rocks with an air of confidence as he observed the three. He breathed in deeply and filled his putrid lungs with the decaying air that lingered around. “Ah, can you smell the despair in the air. Its as if they are producing nothing but pure negativity, Goreoth will be disappointed, conquering this land shall be a short lived pursuit”. Kaiazal’s smile was as wide as the rock he strode upon as he spoke. “How pathetic this rebellion of goodness is, our armies of evilness shall dispatch of these so called warriors within days, if not weeks”. Kaiazal’s face, a picture of victory met with Orscyar’s who did not share his partner’s enthusiasm. “This may be so, but the Djiani‘s spirit appears to remain. He has one thing the others do not, experience. He knows our warriors moves. When the Djiani dies, then I will join you and drink to the eternal preservation of evil” Orscyar afforded a small smile as he spoke and looked at Kaiazal, who returned his words initially with a look of disapproval, this however changed to that of agreement. “You deny that the human spirit is not the key to defeating the mortal men that stand before us”.
“It is but the Djiani has more than mortality with him”
Yes, this is true. The spirit of the Djiani has been a bane in our sides for too long. Not even his noble heart cannot defeat the darkness that is Goreoth himself. His spirit will fade”
“The spirit is as strong as you were noticeable” came a voice “and no evil will quench the spirit of the Djiani” the voice came from the right of them, Imunzo was standing across from them with his sword unsheathed, pointing it directly at them. “If you leave now, you have my word that when I do kill you it shall be quick”. Kaiazal was taken aback by the poise that Imunzo carried himself with, he knew that the only way he could die was by the hand of the sword of Drakahor but he saw the intense passion lit aflame in Imunzo‘s eyes and decided it would be unwise to challenge the samurai. “Come now, let us take our leave” Kaiazal said, putting his near bony green hand on Orscyar’s shoulder. “Our paths shall cross again soon, Djiani” Kaiazal said to Imunzo as they disappeared into nothing. Imunzo sighed and walked to the edge of the rock face and looked over to see that his horse was still down there waiting for him. `The spirit of the Djiani has been a bane` Orscyar’s words repeated over and over in Imunzo’s head as he stared into the distance at the black horizon. “The spirit of the Djiani is everlasting” Imunzo said to himself “but the spirit of Imunzo is near its breaking point” Imunzo finished, sighing afterward.
Sierra sat and surveyed the damage, she had no idea where Kaiazal had taken Valandt and she grew anxious in his absence. It was a strange feeling, she never would have thought she could ever find concern for the little worm that had killed her father but that was the way it was. She was concerned not because she cared for him at all, but because she wanted him to live long enough for her to get her revenge. Sierra sat in a great hall, half way up the dark tower which stood tall over all the other buildings, from here she could hear uncomfortably loudly the screams of pain coming from down below where Sierra sat. She sighed and walked toward the window, she had been directed to wait in this room for Kaiazal to discuss her reward for bringing in Valandt to them. Sierra bit her lip and wondered what had become of Presto and Astral, the longer she was having to wait the more guilt began to take over her body, however much she tried to fight it. Sierra looked down upon the streets of Kjillak below and instantly turned away in horror. The sight of people being burned alive, the sound of their pain, it was all too much. Sierra desperately wanted out of this place, the constant fires in the streets below made her weary, the relentless screams of pain came close to breaking her. In this place death would be a relief from this place but the inhabitants of this horrible place never did die, they would continue to be tortured for all eternity, which chilled Sierra to the bone. Sierra paced around the shiny marble floor of the room for a while, then went back to her seat. The wait was becoming agonising, `Kaiazal should be here by now` she then thought, his lateness began to frustrate her even more, she began to show this impatience by tapping her fingers rhythmically against the arm of the chair Just then there came the sound of the door opening, as if he had read her mind Kaiazal strode through the open doorway and walked toward her and she was surprised to see that for the first time she was a little afraid in his presence, which Kaiazal intended to prey on. “Would you care for something to drink?” Kaiazal asked smoothly as he stopped on his way, next to where she sat. Sierra was beginning to sweat now and Kaiazal noticed this, she gave him a rushed reply of “No, no, im fine” and waved her hand in conjunction with her denial. “Do not be afraid, you have done the right thing Sierra, the man killed your father. You would have died along side him had you not given him to us, he probably would have killed you to save himself” Kaiazal’s golden tongue tried to convince her but she refused to bow to it. The idea of having Valandt killed did not please her, it sickened her. `Cowards way` she thought `when I can kill him myself, to do this is cowardly` and she sighed. Kaiazal felt Sierra’s remorse and went another way to taking bringing her mind around to his way of thinking. “Now that you have come to our side we can give you this, complements of Goreoth” Kaiazal smiled and snapped his fingers and the sword of Drakahor appeared in front of Sierra. “Since the dawn of time, no-one has used a sword the way that you wield this one” Kaiazal was smooth talking her now as she stared at the blade in awe, not sure whether to touch it or not. “And now that you are one of us, you can have the sword back. Your rewards will be much greater after you have aided us in taking Legia itself. With the Shadow of Death on the side of evil there will be no hope for humankind” Kaiazal’s voice was icy cold and was Sierra not so entranced by the sword, she may have found herself terrified. “One problem with that” came a voice from the doorway. “The Shadow of Death is dead” Valandt stood, sword in hand leaning casually against the left side of the doorframe. “How did you? How dare you!” Kaiazal grew instantly incensed and his eyes burned with anger, he then turned to Sierra who now had a smile on her face. “Now is your chance, kill him” Kaiazal ordered Sierra, who only now took her attention of the sword of Drakahor. Kaiazal was outraged at how Valandt could have escaped his guards, especially with no weapon and looked on as Sierra turned her head to Valandt, the two then charged at each other. Both Sierra and Valandt moved with a clear intent as they flew at each other, as Sierra got close however, Valandt grabbed her left hand and spun her around and he went with her so that the two ended up facing Kaiazal, swords ready. “What is going on?” a confused Kaiazal said.
“The plan worked brilliantly. Not only did you fall for it, you lead us all into the tower and straight to the orb” Valandt’s smile was cockily wide.
“You‘re not the only one who can play games” Sierra added with a relieved smile. She had earlier been worried that if Valandt had not been able to escape the dungeons below with the sword that she thrust under his belt when Kaiazal was not looking that she would have to carry on the charade of aligning with Goreoth. Valandt had formed the plan knowing that Kaiazal would not be able to refuse interfering at the last minute of their quest to get inside the city of Kjillak. He also knew of Kaiazal and Orscyar’s ability to overhear private conversations so he did not speak the plan but instead told it to Astral telepathically, who in turn informed Sierra of what to do. Sierra was only too keen for the chance to hit Valandt once more, although she felt awkward when it came to knocking Astral out. When Valandt had awoke in the lower depths of the tower, he allready had a sword tucked under his belt and it was only a formality fighting off the guards in the cells before coming to find Sierra. Kaiazal was quick to show his blinding rage at this trick “Forget the orb, you will die here” he said boomingly and with that he smashed the floor hard. Sierra and Valandt instantly fell to the floor and the entire room began to shake. Kaiazal swiftly disappeared, leaving the tower to fall down around them. “Where are Presto and Astral?” Sierra asked directly as she struggled to get to her feet.
“They are at the top, Presto is attempting to channel the orb energy. Come on we do not have much time” said Valandt, thrusting his arm in Sierra’s face, to which she reluctantly grabbed and he helped her up. Sierra and Valandt ran out of the room with Sierra in front as they began to ascend a circular flight of steps that appeared to go on forever. The tower was collapsing now, with debris from the roof starting to fall as they ran up the steps, Sierra having to stop suddenly and having Valandt run into her from behind to avoid a big piece of debris from crushing them. As they continued to make their way up the steps a strange noise could be heard from below. “What the hell is that?” said Valandt as a slurping noise began to echo all the way up and down the flight of steps. “Don't look now but I think that's the answer to your question” Sierra quipped, pointing to the lava like substance that was rising from the bottom of the steps and continuing to flow upward toward them. Valandt and Sierra’s ascension of the steps became more frantic now and they began to scramble up the steps, they both desperately trying to outrun the upward flow of the lava like fluid which was gaining on them and out manoeuvre the falling pieces of debris from the roof above. The muscles in Valandt’s legs were beginning to ache now as he and Sierra approached the top of the steps and he began to lag behind her. Sierra continued to sprint toward the top, unaware that Valandt was a way behind her and was subsequently alarmed to find him nowhere in sight when she peered over her shoulder, this was closely followed by the sound of some steps close by collapsing. A huge piece of falling debris had taken out the section of the steps that Valandt was on as it tumbled to the bottom, falling in the orange liquid and almost instantly melting. Luckily for Valandt the progression of the liquid began to slowed now, who now dangled onto the edge of the broken steps and slowly losing his grip. Valandt held on tight at the only crack and closed his eyes as he lost his grip. `This is it, I‘m going to die` thought Valandt as he began to fall. He fell for all of a heartbeat before he felt something, an arm on his, Sierra’s. Valandt opened his eyes and held on tight to Sierra’s arm as she began to pull him up, he soon got a footing on the edge of the steps and Sierra then managed to pull him over. “You just saved my life” said a stunned Valandt.
“Don‘t remind me, no way I could let you die like that.” Sierra started. “When you die, I want it to be because of me” said Sierra, moments before punching Valandt over the edge.