Private Tales The Light at the End

[Olem]

Anirian Territory

Olem slowly stood up, frowning for a brief moment at the empty clearing.

The ruins scattered all around him had once been a building. There was no sign of overgrowth, no reclamation from the forest. Scorchmarks were still clear upon the stone, and some of the rock appeared as though it had been split apart just a few days ago. All the signs were there, and he knew that he had struck upon the right trail.

He frowned for a moment, running his hand over the sundered building. "What a waste."

The Knight said with a shake of his head.

This building would have housed a family, maybe two. Now it lay as little more than rubble. It would not have taken a skilled sorcerer to pull it apart, not like this, but someone with power had been here. He could feel that magic still in the air, laying within the rock and scattered all around him. He frowned, and then wandered back over towards his horse.

"Come on Pips, we have the trail." He was only one man, one Dreadlord, but the Republic had sent him out on this mission for a reason. He was an Anirian Knight, a good soldier, and often underestimated by his fellow Dreadlords.

Or those who called themselves as such even in exile.

The scum he was hunting.

Pulling himself up into the saddle, Olem straightened, shifting his massive Zweihander so that it sat comfortably. Then he snapped the reins, and quickly he continued on down the ancient forest trail.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura had figured out a foolproof way to get herself some undead Dreadlord soldiers quite some time ago. It was so very simple and it was so very beautiful when it all fell into place. It worked out well for her. It did not work out well for the Dreadlords or the poor victims (ha!) that she used to lure the Dreadlords out. The always came and she was always waiting.

This time she had killed a lovely family of four. They had invited her in from the rain for a warm meal and she had repaid them by murdering the children and then their parents. She made it extra special by burning down the house. She almost took the father for her army but he did not have any powers...he was just nice to look at.

And, as predicted, a Dreadlord showed up a few days later.

It worked every time.

Maura watched from her high perch in one of the trees as the armored Anirian investigated her carnage. He looked different than the others that had come before but she was not worried. She would dispatch of him easily enough.

A nice strong knight with a big sword for her undead army...perfection.

 

[Olem]

Olem continued slowly along the trail.

His face remained impassive, hidden behind the visage of his helmet. Eyes searched the trees, his watchful gaze falling on everything and anything that surrounded him. His hackles were up, and he knew whatever had destroyed the farmhouse was likely still close by.

That was the trouble with hunting Dreadlords.

They had all been taught the same tactics growing up.

Proctors had stressed certain things for certain students of course, but most of them had tempted the same lessons again and again. Olem tried to keep that in mind, all those things he had been told to do growing up. It would keep him alive out here.

Help him hunt down the woman who had done this.

As Olem continued to ride forward he kept his posture at ease, his armored fingers drawn around the reins. He did not give a single sign that anything was wrong. Instead he simply continued to ride, letting his armor flicker in the bare sun every time he moved between shadows.

"Quiet today, huh, Pips?" The Knight asked his horse, patting him gently on the side of the neck as they continued to ride.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura continued to watch the Dreadlord with her head cocked to the side. This one did not seem worried or scared and she found that to be quite curious. They were always scared of the unknown and here he was having a conversation with his horse.

Hmmmm, she thought to herself before moving from the tree she was in to another. She had purposely picked this area because the trees were close together and made a lovely walkway in the sky for her.

The former Dreadlord would drop down soon enough. She just needed to wait for the perfect moment to overwhelm the knight.

 

[Olem]

The silence would have bothered most.

Some would have found it unsettling. The lack of bird calls, the quiet of insects. Most would have seen it as a sign to be paranoid. Watching anything and everything around them like a hawk.

Olem was no different, not really. He knew the signs as well as anyone else, but he had a different purpose here. He knew this forest was a hunting ground. Knew why it was so quiet. Behind his helmet the Dreadlord wore a mask of calm, fingers wrapped around his reins as slowly his horse continued forward.

Pips too, seemed entirely uninterested in the silence around them.

It was almost as though they were riding on a quiet country road. No problems, no purpose. No reason at all to be worried. A trap in it’s own sort of way, for the armor Olem wore bristled with magic, and his gauntlets shifted ever so slightly on his hands.

He was ready.

As he always was.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura followed the Dreadlord in silence for a little longer before she sent a shock of deathly cold to fun over his body. She would liken it to the prickle of fear that came upon someone but much much worse. Her magic would leave behind a sense of dread so deep and the cold would press into the victims bones. They would not know what to do and there would be no way to make it stop. It was favorite of hers to be sure.

She gave her magic a few moments before she jumped from the tree and landed gracefully behind the horse and rider. She made sure that she was far enough away before launching another attack at him.

Only this attack was not at the Dreadlord...no...it was at his horse.

Maura reached out to send the necrotic magic towards the animal. It's body would feel like the life was being drained from it with each step it took.

 

[Olem]

Olem felt the magic almost immediately.

Rather, he knew that Pips felt it immediately. A flicker of anger shot through him, but he knew that there was nothing he could do. His magic only enhanced what was already enchanted, and Pips had no magic of his own. He was a horse.

Just a damned horse.

It took three steps. Three quick jaunts for the mount to fall in on himself. Muscle disappeared, flesh peeled away, and within a matter of seconds Olem fell through what was little more than a pile of dust. The Knight clattering to the ground with a loud thunk.

Plates of enchanted steel ringinng against one another as he rolld and swept himself to his feet. The massive Zweihander that had been strapped to his back flickering into his hand.

"Show yourself!" The Knight shouted into the forest.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura watched the horse disintegrate beneath the Guard and she looked down at her hands with a mildly amused look. She had not meant to kill the horse but she supposed it worked out for the best.

The necromancer held back her wicked snicker as the armored man clattered to the ground. Oops, she thought as she watched the knight get to his feet and unsheathed his blade.

"Now why would I do that?" The question came back through the trees in every direction and none at all. "Why would I show myself when I can easily kill you from here?"

Yes...Maura did like to play with her food.

 

[Olem]

Olems' fingers tightened ever so slightly on the hilt of his blade.

Behind his helmet his face a picture of calm. There was not a thing in this world that could rattle him, the Academy had seen to that fact years ago. His eyes flickered slowly through the trees ahead of him, feet gently shifting in a circled step as he prepared himself.

The voice came from anywhere, and nowhere. A trick of magic that a child could have conducted. "Really?"

Olem called out.

"Games?" His tongue clicked. "How droll."

The Dreadlord said as he slowly stepped towards the forest. Fingers shifted ever so slightly, and then suddenly he cut the blade forward. There was a pulse, a shifting in the air, and then suddenly a slice of air darted forward and shot through the forest, cutting trees and anything else within it's path.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

It may have been a simple trick but that did not negate its effectiveness. He could call it a game if he wished but she would remain alive long after he had risen to serve her. Silly men were always so over confident.

Maura started to open her mouth to speak when she saw the Knight move. Her eyes narrowed as he cut the blade forward into thin air. She felt the air shift as his sword flew through the forest like it was attached to a man running at full speed.

Luckily, Maura was over to the left slightly and she simply took another step to avoid the massive sword.

"It is not very nice to try to kill random strangers in the forest, Dreadlord," there was venom in her voice now.

Maura needed to kill him before he figured out exactly where she was. She drew her sword and moved forward towards the Knight in hopes of catching him without his sword in hand.

 

[Olem]

Olem slowly turned his head as the voice rang out around him. His lips thinned for a brief moment as he once again saw nothing. A slow breath drew into his lungs, the blade in his hand beginning to slowly gleam in echoes once more.

His eyes folded closed.

He could hear himself breath. Could hear the trees shifting in the wind. The sound around him seemed to echo within his helmet, drew into him. They were a part of the world, nature, but what he was searc-

It was then he heard her, the steps.

Within an instant Olem suddenly whirled around, his blade swung out once more. This time the air warped just short of the tip, and once again a slice of air cut forth. Sweeping not into the trees, but into the ground as a massive cloud of dust burst into the air.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura thought she was silent as she moved closer to Olem but she saw the moment he located her and launched his next attack. She tried avoid this one but he had sent the cloud of dust right to her. It hit her like a ton of bricks and she closed her eyes as she coughed.

She liked playing with her prey but she didn't like when they fought back. She would just punish him with more torture when she caught him.

Maura sent the necrotic magic flying through the air towards where she had last seen Olem standing. She couldn't see and now she was starting to get pissed off.

 

[Olem]

Olem shifted, jumping to the side and hurling his armored form to the ground. A lash of energy went crashing over him, surging with necromantic sparks as it cut up and over his head. The Knight cursed as he felt his sword tumble from his grasp.

It clattered to the ground with the sound of thunderous steel, the metal shaking and shifting.

"Shit." Olem swore as he pushed himself half up and practically hurled himself towards the blade.

Unlike most Dreadlords Olem couldn't project his magic. He could not lash out with a bolt of lightning or a ball of fire. He needed his sword to attack. His armor protected him, but without that blade? He would need the target to get closer.

Too close.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura's eyes shot to where she had heard the clanging of metal against the hard ground. She had him now. She started to stalk in the direction of the sound and soon her eyes were regaining their normal vision again. She could see the giant sword laying on the ground as the armored man struggled to get to it.

She saw him throw himself towards the blade and she moved quickly to try and intercept him. She was quicker since she was not weighed down by armor but he was closer.

 

[Olem]

Olem moved as fast as he could.

He tried to spring the magic within his armor, but he knew that it wouldn't be enough. The plate he wore was meant for fighting, for beating down opponents and cutting through swaths of the enemy. A foot-race was not his intended.

The Knight darted forward, but he was too slow.

Before he could reach the massive handle of his blade the other Dreadlord grasped the weapon.

It was a massive sword of course, but still light enough for her to pull it from the ground and away from him. The magic within would be found almost instantly, the steel glowing ever so slightly as the wind within the blade sough to be released

"Kress." Olem cursed as he moved to tackle the woman to the ground.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura was ready to attack the knight with his own sword but then it started to glow. It did not scare her but it did cause her to get distracted from watching Olem and getting ready for his attack.

Her head was cocked to the right as she studied the blade. Unfortunately, it had completely distracted her. Maura did not see Olem moving again until the knight slammed into her.

She cried out as the armored man tackled her with his heavy and metal body. The huge sword fell from her hand as she hit to ground and was unable to move.

 

[Olem]

Fighting, as he had learned throughout his years, was most often not about finesse.

Martial arts and such things were useful of course, and all that the Academy had taught him had certainly never been tossed aside. Yet Olem had long ago realized that getting the edge in battle was more often about surprise than anything else.

An armored man crashing into your side was about as surprising as it could get.

Without a single second of hesitation Olem fell upon the rogue Dreadlord. Despite the weight of his armor he moved impossibly quick, his gauntlet striking out like a viper and seeking to punch the woman in the face. A blow hard enough to break bone and swell muscle.

There were no illusions about taking it easy.

This woman was a Dreadlord she had the same training as him. She was just as deadly as him. He needed to knock her out, and fast. After the first blow, another one came, and then another. No mercy, no hesitation at all.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura believed she was better than most people. She had always believed it, in fact. It was something that the Proctors would tell her while she was at the Academy. There was no time for the weak and she would never be weak. She had always been the best in order to survive and because she liked being powerful.

This man though...this knight...this Dreadlord...he made her feel weak and she hated it. It had only taken one punch for her to know she was in trouble. She tried to move her arms out from under him so she could touch him but it was no use. He was far too large and heavy for her.

She went to kick up but another punch caught her in the face. As the pain exploded through her, she continued to struggle. Her hand touched the ground causing her power to release and go in search of the dead for her to command. She had learned long ago that many people buried bodies in the forests of the world.

Every connection was cut off in an instant as he continued to punch her. She remained conscious for several more before her eyes finally closed and darkness overtook her. Her last thoughts were on how she hoped that she had called forth a few of the dead to defeat him.

 

[Olem]

The woman fell into the grasp of the Absys, and Olem's final punch stopped just short of her cheek.

Lips thinned beneath the mask of his helmet, his gauntlet slowly unfurling as he drew himself back and away from the other Dreadlord. His eyes watched her carefully, peering at her form as he waited for her to pounce up or move once more.

When nothing happened, when she continued to lay still the Knight slowly pulled himself off of her completely. His head swiveled, glancing at the remains of his horse for a moment. A frown touched his features, and slowly he made his way towards the saddlebags.

There he drew free a length of rope.

Within a few minutes he began to bind Maura's hands, fingers moving with surprising deftness given the heavy steel covering them. "Shame about what you did to Pips, he was a good horse."

Olem said to the unconscious Dreadlord, never noticing the silent skeletal forms that were beginning to make their way towards the road. The creaking of their ancient bones silenced by fetid cartilage and flesh still clinging to them.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura didn't move as Olem tied her hands with the rope he had procured. Thanks to her bloody face, the only way someone would know she was alive was by watching the shallow rise and fall of her chest.

Meanwhile, four reanimated skeletons trudged through the forest from different directions to heed the call of the necromancer.

Fortunately for Olem, when she passed out she took the majority of her power with her. The dead had awoken and they had a target but they would do little damage before they returned to their completely dead selves.

 

[Olem]

It was the snap of a branch which turned Olem’s head. One of the figures shuffling forward through the woods stepping upon a fallen stick.,

The Knight’s head whirled around almost instantly, fingers slipping free from the bounds of the fallen Dreadlord just as one of the Skeletons lashed out. The Undead creature batted at him with a rusted and broken sword, knocking into his armor and sending the Dreadlord sprawling onto the ground besides Maura.

A clatter of steel plates echoed out as he scrambled.

One hand shot out, snatching the skeletons bone and ripping it to the side with a loud crack. Another of the skeletons surged forward seconds later. It’s jaws unhinging as it sent teeth slamming down upon enchanted steel.

Olem let out a curse. ”Get the fuck…off…me”

The Dreadlord called out, smashing his fist into the skeletons face and sending it crumbling to the ground as the remaining two charged. One dashing towards the fallen runaway in attempt to free her.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

One skeleton blindly flew at Olem while the other bent down to try to undo her bounds. Unfortunately, with her power stripped from the beings, it was mostly bones shifting and no progress being made. It was a moment or so before the skeleton that was trying to free Maura fell over and broke into multiple pieces.

There was only one left standing was midrun toward Olem when it also stopped before falling in a pile on the ground.

Maura was breathing steadily but it was clear that she was still knocked out. She would have been in too much pain to be so peaceful if she was awake.

 

[Olem]

Olem’s chest steadily rose and fell.

His eyes closed for a brief moment, entirely obscured by the helmet which hid his face. Slowly he took in a deep breath, head shaking as he flipped up the visor which concealed him. The soft padded palm of his glove rubbed over his features for just a brief moment, and then he flipped the visor back down.

”Well then.” The Knight remarked, shaking his head and slowly turning his attentions back towards the other Dreadlord.

With quick steps he made his way towards her, ensuring that he bindings on her hands were still in place. A quick glance showed they were, and he slowly scooped her up off the ground and threw her over his shoulder.

It wasn’t the most gentle of treatment, but then she hardly deserved it. The bitch had killed Pips.

”Hope you’re worth it.” He remarked. ”That was a god horse.”

Olem lauded once more as he began to walk.

 

[Maura Cirillo]

Maura was not sure how long she had been out but she woke with a start. Pain lanced through her body and it was punctuated with every step as she bounced against the metal beneath her.

Metal.

It all came back in that moment and she tried to struggle against him. The asshole had made sure her hands were behind her back so she couldn't even make contact with anything to use her power.

Maura growled as she continued to squirm and try to free herself from the strong arms of the Dreadlord.

"How strong would you be without all this armor, Dreadlord?" Maura hissed out.

 

[Olem]

Olem's arm did not move from around Maura as she squirmed atop his shoulder. Fingers digging in just to make sure she did not slip free. "I lift weights."

The words were said in such a deadpan tone that it was difficult to tell whether or not he was joking.

In truth of course, Olem wasn't much of a Dreadlord at all without his equipment. His own magic did nothing to make him stronger. His powers came from enhancing other things and people. He was a lens, through which others could become more.

"But either way." He told her. "I'm on my feet."

Olem shifted, hefting her form. "And you're up there."