"William, you have NO LIFE!"
-YourRoleModel
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| "Initium Ultio" - Part Three | | | Author: | | | IP: | 63.117.2XXXX | | Date: | 04/12/01 07:04 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 1, Max: 6, Min: 6
Lifetime Rating for Nafarias: 6.8889 |  | (If you haven't read parts 1 and 2 - shame on you! Go back now and read them or you won't understand squat!)
Corvus went north and found the round chamber as Varthis has said. In it there were golems, but they were few in number. Corvus slew them using the gauntlets, saving his strength for confronting Draxus. Varthis had spoken truly when he told Corvus of the gauntlets' worth. They were enchanted to be collectors of the ether. Unlike his wand, they did not exact strength from Corvus. Instead they channeled the ether of their own power, and when Corvus concentrated that power would burst forth, crackling and hissing. When close, this ether would engulf an enemy, dancing like lightening. Few creatures could withstand such magic long.
After the last golem died Crovus opened the hidden door in the west wall and searched the ledge and storage tunnels, thinking it wise to look for other weapons. His search proved fruitful. The north end of the storage tunnel was filled with debris and choked with webs, but in a box he found a great treasure. Another Sidhe weapon was still there in the dust. It had been ignored, for it could not be used by any but the Sidhe. A simple crossbow in shape, but without crank or string. A broken toy it would seem to other races, or trash to be discarded, but in the hands of a Sidhe warrior it was a powerful tool - able to hurl triple bolts of ether. It required great strength to use, greater strength than his elven wand could channel.
Corvus watched as he raised it up and cleaned the dirt and webs from it. As if in response to his touches the groove of the bow filled with green bolts, dim at the fletches but brightening to sharp flaring points at the tip. With this weapon Corvus felt greater assurance. Retracing his steps he came to the round chamber again, taking the hall to the north and pressing the hidden catch.
Returning to the round chamber again he found the portal near the entrance. Darchala was the sage that had created the portals and taught their use to the Sidhe and other races. He had been a crafty weaver of spells, specializing in the art of movement. The portals had long served to unite the Sidhe realms, but now they served the Dark one. One did not have to be Sidhe to use such tools, and undoubtedly an abuse of this artifact was what had allowed D'Sparil to send his minions against the unprepared elves on the fateful day of their deaths. The portal was beautiful still, a ruby platform glittering with magical power and emblazoned with the sigil of chaos - the rune of the magic of motion.
Corvus paused for a moment, taking breath, and then stepped into the portal. The world warped as ether was rent asunder and in a splintered second Corvus stood in the northeast corner of the ship haven. Gargoyles immediately set upon him. Unleashing the ethereal bolts of his Sidhe bow he scattered the creatures like cut grass and turned west.
The haven was actually a shallow dam in which ships came to unload their burdens. The water could be drained and refilled at need. Only ankle deep water remained now, filled with algae and rotting plants. In the north wall of the middle haven there was once a guard house where ships were cleared to enter the city. Corvus there had sold shells to people in the city, and then it had been a warm, friendly building. Now it was decrepit, and it leaned crazily as the dock upon which it sat slowly sunk into the mud. It was there Corvus knew that Draxus must be.
A sound met him as he stepped from the portal into the haven. The echoing breath of the undead. Armored and tall, they came at him, hurling great axes. The axes were evil mockeries of the power the Sidhe held over the ether, but the undead had not this power. Their power came as a gift from D'Sparil - a vile manifestation of the potencies that dwelt Outside the ether.
There were not many of these creatures, but they were fell and Corvus exhausted his strength with the crossbow in dispatching only two of them. They were strong like the Sidhe, and would take dreadful wounds without seeming to feel pain. But Corvus was far swifter, and he dodged their axes and drew his wand forth. It was a hard battle, but Corvus' skill was greater and his wrath stronger, and one by one the undead were vanquished.
But he had not obtained victory yet. Even as the last of the undead crumpled, a hiss rose. An undead warrior greater than the others - taller and more horrible - burst from the wooden guardhouse. He was faint, difficult to see even in the relative brightness of the open sky. With fear Corvus realized he could see through the creature as if it were smoky glass. Half of this world and half of the world Outside was this perversion, strong and terrible. His face was a skull covered with tattered flesh, and his eyes were vacant but for a poisonous light. It held in its hand an axe that was red. Draxus, captain of D'Sparil, wight of darkness, came at Corvus. What deadly past he had no person but D'Sparil could say. He was cruel and a great intelligence and malice was in him.
"Who are you, Sidhe?" Draxus said. "Why have you come? Death only awaits you, or endless punishment in the hall of my master."
Corvus paused, catching his breath and cursing the squandering of his strength with the crossbow. "I am the doom that awaits all of your kind," he said at last. "And that doom I have come to share with you."
Draxus laughed, a chilling thing to hear. "You have fire in you, Sidhe," he said. "Come. Try your gift of doom with me." Draxus leapt at Corvus, bringing his axe down in a dreadful stroke with unearthly speed. Corvus scarce had time to bring his shield up to ward the blow. The axe, driven with spite or enchanted with evil, split the shield asunder. Corvus dived away into the mud, firing wildly with his wand, pain erupting in his arm.
Draxus laughed again and pursued him, his axe falling like a hammer as he struck at Corvus. Corvus gained his feet and backed away - firing with his wand as he did. But Draxus shrugged off the ether-fire and came on. Corvus eluded his enemy for a time, but Draxus showed no signs of tiring, and Corvus no longer had the strength to use his wand. The gauntlets he raised up, and they crackled with ethereal power - but how could he bring them to bear and avoid the weapon of his enemy?
Corvus cautiously halted in his retreat, allowing Draxus to come closer. Draxus, sensing the weakness of his foe, pressed him with great speed. As he neared, Corvus unleashed the energy of the gauntlets and Draxus was smitten. But he was not beaten, and he swept his axe sideways. Too soon, for the axe blade did not meet flesh. The haft struck Corvus and he fell to the mud. Dazed, Corvus saw his death coming.
Draxus stooped over him, raising his axe for the deathblow. But he cried with sudden pain as a figure struck him from behind. It was Varthis. Unnoticed he had come as Draxus and Corvus dueled. Limping and weak, but with a light in his eyes he smote Draxus with a knife. His blow was not heavy, but was guided by skill into the chink of Draxus' breastplate, dealing him a mortal wound.
But Draxus was a warrior hardened by the power of his master, and cunning with many battles. A swift stroke he dealt to Varthis, wasting no words on the elf who he had tormented. As the axe descended Corvus, dizzy with pain forced himself up and he leapt on Draxus with a cry. The gauntlets hummed with power and Corvus plunged them into the back of his enemy as he turned. With a shriek of hate and agony Draxus fell - the spell tying him to the realm of ether broken, his axe falling from his hands.
"Varthis!" shouted Corvus, staggering over the body of Draxus.
But Varthis did not answer. He lay dead in the water, his body cloven by the last blow of Draxus in his ruin. A smile decorated his face as he lay, and a peace was in his countenance that had not been there for unnumbered days.
Corvus was stung with tears at this sight, but stood tall. "So you were not quite so weak or fearful as you thought, dear Varthis. Your rest has come upon you. May the stars shine on your journey to Elvenhome and there may you be rewarded for your valor."
A sinister laugh of mockery rose from behind him. Draxus still lived, at least for a moment. The lights of his eyes were dim, and Corvus knew he remained in the realm of ether only by the force of his will - a force now ebbing away.
"There will be no reward for him or any of your kind beyond mortality, Sidhe," said Draxus. "My masters will rule both this life and the life beyond. Your resistance will bring you suffering eternal."
Corvus regarded Draxus, a threatening but impotent figure lying in the water. "The Sidhe are not deceived by your lies, foul one," he spat. "Strength you have in this world, but the world beyond is ruled by powers incorruptible. You and your masters have no power there. I will take pleasure in sending D'Sparil back to the damnation of the realm Outside. Go there now, and tell the tale of my wrath. I will send many of your ilk there to join you, and at the last your master will be banished by my hand and it will be his suffering that is eternal. Varthis I now commend to a happier realm than you shall know."
Draxus spoke, his voice now feeble and low. "My masters will supplant what powers rule beyond this life - in time. They have webs to weave even past the realm of Ether. But I will bear your message to them. I will tell them of your strength and hate. They will be pleased. You may yet become a great tool in hands of the Serpent Riders." With these words the light of Draxus' eyes went out and he departed.
Corvus ground his teeth. "That shall never be," he said, but his enemy was past hearing. Draxus and Varthis both had made warnings to him, and he felt that his hate was misunderstood. But he was not now so certain and wondered. No, he thought. Draxus was a liar and spoke only deceits. Varthis was so long crushed by fear that he mistook all strength and resistance for error. Corvus would not be stayed. But he looked again on the body of Varthis and knew he could not leave him so - untended and dishonored.
He took Varthis and carried him to the west where a portal lay glimmering. Passing through it he was returned to the dock area where Varthis once had his office. There Corvus built a cairn over his friend using stones gathered from the crumbling walls, and on a piece of wood carved his epitaph.
'Here lies Varthis - who loved life but chose death.'
Corvus stood for a silent moment over the cairn after the last stone was set. Finding no words to say he returned to the haven. Searching he found the key to the dungeons upon the body of Draxus. It was beautiful, a crystal star of blue, but the beauty brought him no comfort. Corvus then ransacked the guardhouse and found a leather pack which he slung on his back. The bodies of the undead, like the golems, held vessels in which the ether was trapped. Corvus saw that with these creatures the ether was necessary to bridge the barrier to the Outside and allow the undead to have physical form. These vessels gave him the strength again to wield the crossbow.
Taking the key, Corvus returned to the sealed northern hallway. Opening the gate he went to the door that opened to the dungeons. Guards were there, but Corvus beat them down. Before him was the gate that led to the prisons. With a last look over his shoulder, Corvus opened the door and went on. Behind him the docks were quiet and only the sound of the sea could be heard, a rushing sigh in the distance.
THE END...? | | Battle Shots! | 
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