Chapter 10 - March of The Succubus (The Dawn of Darkness)

It was a full moon. Her nimble frame glided through the open alleys of the castle in the shadows, with only the amber glow of a lone candle to keep her company. Her dark hair, illuminated slightly by the silver moon's glare, swayed gracesfully with each step, until finally, she reached the tip of the narrow stairway. Puzzled, she bit her bottom lip, but decided that it had to be done. The eerie flutter of the wind haunted the stone-made steps, but it had not the slightest of effect on her. Her nightgown was barely buttoned. oh, what would Nanny say if she saw her dressed this way. 'Inappropriate, young lady!' The very thought of that made her smile.

Slowly but surely, she made her way down the stone corridors and into an opening. She realised she had encountered a cross-road. To the left, there was what seemed like an opening to the palace gardens. To the right, a series of endless doors, the occasional groans and whining could be audible through its heavily armed shell of thick wooden doors and barred windows. Noone knows what resides within those walls. Maybe next time, taught the princess. Tonight, she had better things to accomplish.

Silent but quickly, she raced across the corridor into the left, opening the wooden frames ever so slighlt, but just enough for her to get a peek. Outside, two nightguards were on duty. Sven and Hendersen. Both from her fathers battalion. With confidence, she gave the doors a push, and they gave way.

The two guards immediately raised thier pikes. 'Who goes there?!'

The princess smiled. This is going to be fun. 'Who ever do you think I may be?'

The two guards blinked at the sound of the imperial voice, and stood at attention. 'My, my lady... What brings you out here in the night?'

Princess Wan Yi strod across the gardens and approached the young guards. 'Come now. Why, in heavens name would a young, lonely little girl come wondering off into the deepest, darkest parts of the castle in the middle of the night? Surely grown men like you..' She came so close to the two guards, swaying her hips as she went, now that the only thing seperating them are the silver palted armour they were wearing. They could feel her warmth, though it was but fantasy more than anything else. '....would know that by now?' And as she finished her sentence, pulled one of the young guards even nearer. The young guard froze for a second, and closed his eyes. Just as the lovely Princess's lips were inches away from his, she stopped, lowered the straps that bound her nighgown together, pulled the young guard close and tugged him by his scarf. She lowered his head to her ear, and whispered 'I'll scream, so loud that every guard in Ezeroth will immediately come to my aid. Be it that they rip you to pieces or not, is at my judgement.'

The guards were terrified by now. 'What.. what do you want, my lady?'

The princess, finally sure that she had the efect she desired, let the young guard loose. 'I want to be left alone. Let no one know that I am visiting my father's gardens.'

The two guards were even more horrified. 'But my lady, his majesty has forbidden anyone, even you..'

'The princess now undid the other strap. This made the guards shut up immediately. She strolled into the entrance of the gardens. 'And keep a lookout for me. Thank you~' she said, as she did, made a pass at the other guard.

Inside, the moonlit sky was clearer than ever. As a child, she had always visited this place of peace. Ever since the death of her mother, King Wye had sealed this place, barring any soul from entering tis premisess. More like seeking to escape than fae the death of his wife. The queen was a jewel. Both to the kingdom of Ezaroth, and to the royal fmily. Wan Yi was treated as a golden child should have been treated. She had all the love, kindness and care in the world. But ever since the Great War, things were never the same again. Princess Wan Yi hesitated for a moment, staring at the wooden door. The fine incriptions were beyond beauty, and there, in the middle of the knobs, were the initials, ELE. She mustered what remained of her courage, and stepped in.

Every angle of the garden was of perfection and beauty. Endless streams of rose bushes paraded across the seas of birch and willow, all leading up to a trrain of gravel. The smell of rosemary and jasmine was abundant, and the air was filled with marvel. She had not remembered any of this, not since her mother left her at the tender age of five. She was heartbroken ever since, but not as much as King Wye. She took her time, admiring every tree, rock and flower, taking in the bitter sweet memories that have been like a long lost friend. Her paces brought her to yet another marvel. A towering fountain of what seemed like a lovely circle of angles and artifacts stood before her in majesty. Behind it, a long road and stone and gravel that leads to cascading steps, on both sides statues of past kings and heroes of Ezaroth bowed before her presence. And there, up upon the steps, lay the magic of it all. Surrounded by twelve pillars that symbolised the elemetnts that hold Ezaroth together, in unity, in harmony, lay a well. A well so mysterious, that as the Princess approaced it, she could hear faint whispers. 'Come.. my child....'

There, the Princess stood before the magical well, and made her wish. Before the Oracle.

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Somewhere deep within Noreshire, a band of horses made quick pace towards Ezaroth. Three figures led the pack, thier capes fluttering in the chilly wind up the mountains. The tallest of the three, Lord Robson, still had a troubled look on his face. His entire character had changed overnight. Behind him, Lord June was rather concerned. The Lord of the West had not been his cheerful self ever since. Once of twice, they had stopped to seek supplies, only to find Lord Robson shrieking at shadows, drawing his arms at trees and talking to thin air. It was as though he was being followed. He had to do something.

'I say... lets stop for a while, my friend. You have been riding down thie lane for hours now. Come, a little rest and some water would do you goo...'

'No.' came back the sharp reply. 'We have to get to Ezaroth as soon as possible. I have a feeling something is up.'

undetered, Lord June tried yet again, this time with a warmer tone. 'Then tell me what troubles you, my friend. Let me share some of the misery. I do owe you my life.'

Lord Robson looked at his friend, and for the first time that night, smiled.

'That's more like it.'

Lord Robson hesitated for a moment. He waited until they arrived at the bank of a clear opening, before he pulled at the ropes of his horse. The whole entourage came to a halt. 'We stop here. Everyone get some rest. We shall continue once it is sunrise.'

The men disembarked, and immediately set camp. Lady Veena, accompanied closely by Lord June, sat near an opening, while Lord Robson lit a fire. Once they were all seated, Lord Robson, still puzzled, began his story. 'I'm sorry I never though I could trust you, my friend. But I fear I have begun to see what does not exist.'

'Pray tell, what is it that you see. My brother has been worried sick.' said Lady Veena.

Lord June gave him a concerned look. 'Is it about what we saw at the foot of the mountains?'

Lord Robson gave a sigh, then he nodded. 'You see, last night, I had a dream. In my dream, Lord Nesh's army fell under a powerful spell, by.. something.. or some kind of evil wizard. I saw them.. all of his men... fall... die.... one by one... even Lord Nesh himself was dead. I woke up, feeling that it was rather strange..'

Lord June and Lady Veena both looked at him in disbelief. 'Lord Nesh is dead? How is this possible? We do not yet know for sure..... '

Lord Robson shook his head. 'I am sure of what I saw in my dream. Yet, it didn't stop there. Watever happened to the Northern army, happened to one of the Five Outposts as well.'

This time, Lord June stood up. 'Come my friend. It may all just be a dream.'

'I considered that as well. That is why I had to make sure. But when we saw what happened to the Northern Army..'

'Whatever happened may have been but a loss, but surely Lord Nesh would not be foolsih enough to go all out? He must have redrawn somewhere...'

Lady Veena spoke, 'But still... it is still unbelievable. Something so powerful that even the Northern army cannot take out? What exactly as we up against here?'

She recieved no response.

All three lay in silence. Finally, it was Lady Veena who spoke. 'Either way, a man as strong as Nesh cannot possibly fall under some spell. he might still be alive. Maybe we can find him still.'

Lord Robson looked up. 'You are right... I too do not completely trust this dream of mine. Yet...'

'What is it?'

Lord Robson was rather shaken by now. 'This... wizard... who cast the spell. I saw him. I saw his face.'

Lord June jsut stared at him, lost for words.

"This thing... had come to warn me.. that some... I don't know... something was going to happen in Ezaroth. That I should be there as soon as I can....'

Lord June loked downwards, unsure of what to say. Lady Veena too, contemplated for a while. Then, she spoke. 'Then it is best we get moving. If the predictions of the Northern Army came true, no matter how much of a coincidence, we cannot atke any chances. Besides, we should keep the King well informed. What is there to lose?'

Lord Robson smiled. 'Thank you, Lady Veena. I feel much better.'

Lord June laughed, 'Then be more of a sport next time. I was not born deaf you know. Besides, I cant let you have all the glory! It would be, unmanly! Come, let us make haste. If we keep on track, we'll be in the King's court in two days.'

Lord Robson smiled. They headed for the horses. 'Take note, men, we'll head for the King's quraters by sunrise. Now, why don't we all get some goodnight's rest and.....'

There was a loud bang, and then, almost instantly, several of Lord Robson's men were thrown into the air, landing a few inches, thier cries of agony silenced as they crashed into the dirt, before him, dead. The rest drew thier swords. There was chaos, as everyone tried to look for the intruder. Lady Veena shrieked, stood up and hid behind Lord June, who too failed to make out where the attacker was coming from. Then, another bang was heard, and two more of Lord Robson's men were thrown into the air. In the nick of time, Lord June drew his revolver, aimed and fired. What seemed like a dark pile of cloud suddenly erupted into thin air. Then, more and more of these shades began to appear. What came to be was anything Lord June had set eyes upon before. These cretures were shades. Purple and dark, fromless. The rest of Lord Robson's men drew thier revolvers, and fired. Several of the shades erupted. Then, in a flash, there dissapered before them. There was silence, as the confused men looked desperately around.

'Look out!' one of the men shouted, but it was too late. A blancket of dark shadows had already covered one of them. Immediately, shots were fired in the soldier's direction. Lord Robson yelled, 'No!' Instanly, the shade disspeared, and what was left was the soldier, dead by the hands of his own countrymen. The shades disspeared. Silence once again fell on the river bank. Then, Lord June saw it, 'Robson, behind you!' Lord Robson dodged by the skin of his teeth, only to see the shades missing him by a fraction of a second. Just as it was about to disappear, Lord June fired his revolver right it the middle of the shade, and it vanished.

'What the hell was that?' shouted one of Robson's men.

'I do not know, and I'm not going to stick around long enough to find out. Let's get out of here, sire, before it comes back!'

Just then, there was a loud battlecry. It echoed throughout the whole encampment. The men drew thier swords and looked around. Then, it happened. It was massive as it tore through the vegetation and stomped into the clear opening. A huge beast emerged from the shadows of the forest, towering before them.

'Ambush!'

The attacker had the face of a tiger, but it had the body of five man. Very strong men. In its hand it held what looked like a double bladed axe. With each step, it shook the ground. It charged across the opening, taking down several footsoldiers in one go. Several more of Lord Robson's men engaged the huge beast, only tobe knocked aside in one blow. Lord June fired the revolver at its direction, but it didn't back down, only flinching. It growled angrily, and charged, this time, towards Lord june's direction. Several more of Lord Robson's men turned thier revolvers towards the huge beastnow, desperately trying to take it down. But it didn't, continuing as though the gunshots were nthing more than mosquito bites. Lord June managed to jump away in time, but the two gunmen by his sides were not so lucky. It regained its bearing, and charged once again, this time towards Lady Veena, who was just a couple of metres away.

'Get out of there!' Lord June shouted, and raced towards his sister. He leapd ad caught hold of her jsut in time as the beast struck past. Lord Robson dashed towards it just as it was about to turn again, raised his rapier, and plundged it into the beast's chest. It growled in pain, and fell down. Robson's men immediately fired at the beast. It seemed to be working now that it was wounded. Lord Robson backed away. Just as Robson's men were reloading, something swooped down from the sky, picked up one of the gunmen, and flew into the air. The confused gunmen looked up, and was terrified. The flying creature was hedious, its eyes were but plain white spheres. It had long wings, and blood red teeth. A gargoyle. Legendary beasts of stone that came to life upon hearing the call of the devil. He tried to fight desperately, but the last thing he saw was the creature's claws digging into his flesh, and then, the gunman was ripped into two. Lady Veena was horrified. So were the rest of the men, as more and more gargoyles began to swoop down, enveloping the moonlit sky into a pitch black of wings and death.

'Retreat, men!' Lord Robson called out. The remaining of the riders jumped onto thier horses hether scatter, only to find the tiger-like beast standing before them. With one huge blow, its rammed the axe to the ground, causing a dozen of the rider's to tumble. It picked one of them up, and crushed it with its mighty claws. Lord Robson's men drew thier swords, and engaged in battle, but the beast was too powerful. It growled, facing upwards and extending its arms in a sharp and ear-pierceing growl taht echoed through the forest. More gargoyles began to pick up the poor footsoldiers and gunmen one by one.

Lord Robson dodged another attack, managing to pierce his rapier into one of the gargoyles as it swooped down, missing the Lord by inches, only to find another already too close for comfort. Just as it was about to lay its claws on Robson, Lord June's blade sliced it into two. Just as he lowered his sword, he raised his revolver and fired at yet another one of the flying beasts.

'Theres too many of them! We have to get out of here!' as he said that, another swooped down, this time slashing Lord June in the arm.

'Arggh!' The gargoyle looked down, and returned for another strike. A gunshot was heard, and the gargoyle fell to the ground, winching, in time to find Lord Robson's blade cut thorugh its neck. Lady Veena, reveolver in hand, came to her brothers aid. 'Keep your claws of my brother you worm!' and she fired, one shot after another at the attacking beasts. Lord Robson helped Lord June up, 'I have to say, you've got one hell of a sister there.'

'This is no time for jokes, now, get us out of here!'

Lord Robson made a loud whistle, and two rideless horses came to his side, 'Already on it!' The two got on, Lady Veena managing another shot at one of the gargoyles before she hopped onto the same horse with her brother.

Both horses galloped off, but Lord Robson drew his at the last moment. 'I'm not leaving without my men!'

Lord June stopped. 'It wont do you any good saying her as well! The best thing you can do now is stay alive! Your men sacrificed themselves for you, so keep a stiff upper lip, and get the hell out of here. I promise you their deaths will not go unavenged!'

Several of Lord Robson's men galloped past, and stoped before him. 'Your emminence, go. We'll hold them off as much as we can.'

With one last nod, Robson looked at his men one last time. They returned the nod, just in time for another sea of gargoyles to emerge from the shadows. 'Go, milord! Now!' As they desperately fought off the attackers, only to see one more of Lord Robson's men fall to the ground, blood splurting in all directions.

Lord Robson turned, and galloped off with Lord June. Just as they were about to clear the first mile, he saw it. Lord Robson stared at disbeleif. There, on the top of the hill, above the din of chaos that had been unjustly cast upon his men, stood a the shadow of a rider. It was unmistakable. Those wings. That beast-like exterior. Those red eyes. That hood. The monster from his dreams.... looking directly at him.
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Prince Wai Kit and General Halo, packed and ready to embark on the journey home, gathered at the gates of Mt. Odyssey. A large group of priests and monks had gatherd to bid them off.

The oldest and wisest of the group busied himself with hugging the Prince. 'Thank you so much, Father. I'll remember all that I have learned here.'

The old priest looked up, and smiled. "No... thank you, young Prince. May the Gods bless you, and have faith in yourself my boy. You have the makings of a King who can end this darkness once and for all.'

'Thank you Father. Oh... I'm going to miss you....' as tears began to form in the Prince's eyes.

This made the Father smile. 'There... there... cry somemore and you'll made us all cry too. Be safe now. You have my full blessings.'

General Halo stepped foward. 'Its time to go now.'

The Prince broke out of his embrace, and followed the old General to the entrance of the Gate.

With that, they bid thier final farewells, and headed off into the forest.

Just as the two dissapeared into the shadows, The priests turned back to the cathedral. Thier one and only apprentice had finally become the man they had always hoped he would be. now its up to him to release this land from the darkness that was to come. The Elders had known this, of course. They headed into the building, looking back one last time at the route that they had seen the young Prince come as but a mere child, and leaving as a man.

What they didn't see, was the huge beast-like creature that hid within the shrubs, its tiger-like head visble as shards of sun-light made contact, watching thier every move. The villagers of the Temple of Light, unaware, entered their homes for the night. At first, there was silent flapping of wings. Then, one of them gasped at the sight of it. The starry sky was filled with flying creatures. There was a swoop, a scream, and then, there was blood, as the skies of Mt. Odyssey were filled with wings, claws and death. High pitched screams could be heard, as the flames of hell were brought down upon them. The Priests, alarmed by the shrieking, ran out, only to find more deaths. 'My God.....'

They came to the people's aid and fought back. They were forbidden to use weapons, but they were trained do make do without. Swift and agile, they avoided the attacks easily, and with one strike of the fist, crushed the gargoyles skull. Yet, they were too many of them.

'Quick! Get the people into the safety of the cathedral! Jason!' the Elder Priest pointed at one of his men. 'Get a horse, race towards the Prince and the General. Tell them not to turn back, no matter what they see! Now go!' The young priest obeyed, jumped onto a horse, and galloped off. The elder priest turned his attention now to the vile demons.

'Isha Hamen Ishkiviah!'

There was a loud zapping, and then, the body of the elder priest began to glow. It glowed intensely, then, a beam of its luminousity shot out into the sky, filling the sky with bright, blinding Light. It was an illuminousity spell. A huge wave of the approaching gargoyles evaporated as they came into contact with the light. The rest of the priests did the same, not as powerful, but served its purpose nonetheless. More and more of the gargoyles fell. Just as the last of the gargoyles vanised into dark smoke, there was a loud tremble, and the huge tiger-like beast emerged from its hiding. The Priests were about to cast another spell, when they were envelpoed in pueple blankets of shade. One of the priests shrieked, then , as the shades dissapeared, the priests lay there, aive, but motionless, as though thier souls have been ripped from thier bodies. The Elder Priest evaded the shades. He concentrated, and closed his eyes. When he reopened them again, he could see them. Dark Elementals. 'Concentrate! They are all around you!'

From the safety of the shadows, a shadow watched as death and decay was brought down upon the Temple of Light. The rider, hooded from sight, felt anxious. The battle with the monks of Light was not going to be an easy task. It looked on for a moment longer, then turned its back. Under the moonlight, the crest of the moon glittered, only but for a fraction of a second, as the dark figure headed back into the darkness.