Amidst the laughter and cries of joy, a loud shout from the man responsible pierced their false sense of security. Everything came to a standstill – the face Staxius made told everything. His eyes were burning with rage – yet in the middle of that rage; a faint speck of sadness was sensed. Without uttering a word to his companion nor the villagers; he left. "Please get back to your celebrations, Master is probably a little annoyed, one of our sisters hasn"t come back," Adelana spoke out instantly, it helped calm the crowd who gossiped amidst themselves needlessly. It worked, everyone felt at peace once more and got back to their prior activities – may it be: dancing, eating, singing, telling jokes, and even sparring. The village was a lively place for once more, the fair yet unvirtuous Jessica spoke to her father – head to head. She confessed her sins and begged for forgiveness whom her dad graciously granted after a stern lecture. Her life was back on track into regaining its normality and mundane nature.
On the other hand – far away from Dorchester, in Oxs.h.i.+eld; the princess had achieved her goals. Sat in a dimly lit room whose only source of light was a single candle, the princess sat. In front of her, knelt as if praying – two silhouettes, barely noticeable but present. Gallienne cachinnated as her dream or plan was coming to fruition. One of the silhouettes spoke, p.r.o.nouncing each word with the utmost care.
"My dear princess Gallienne, our ritual, and experiments have ended. It was a great success, at the expense of…"
"I"ve heard enough, the end justifies the means, Jeff Solomon, or should I say, the sorcerer of the void." She smirked.
"Ahh, you"ve discovered who I am." The strength in his voice began fading.
"That is enough, princess, we"ve held up our part of the agreement." The other voice spoke – "Now please we really have to get going." He added impatiently. A faint breeze came in from the outside, it was enough to move the candle who enlighten the man"s face. A stern face, and an unforgiving stare.
"Commander Gareth, please, patience is a virtue – you should be grateful for I, the princess of Hidros, is personally helping you in thy conquest." In what seemed to be a fit of rage, she rose. "Bring me the artifact, I shall perform the necessary ritual to implement this." – held in between her index finger and thumb, a small orb. It shone fiercer than the sun, the bright crimson glimmer could
have made anyone mistaken it for a flawless ruby.
"As you wish," the old man agreed.
"Commander Gareth, before I begin, take this to duke Sten – your back up will arrive in a day"s time." Like clockwork, Theodore manifested as if a ghost and escorted the commander to
Dorchester; using the same airs.h.i.+p.
"Princess Gallienne, today you will become the first person who had a magical element
artificially made, I call it, the summoner stone." The night ended – this was before Staxius and his party reached the Krigi of old.
The day the princess spoke of was today – the day Staxius arrived. Little did he know that the princess"s powers were on an astronomical scale. She didn"t have raw magical strength; the artificial element was strong as proved by the fact that she slew forty-five guards as a test. Those forty-five guards were knights, rumored to be the best throughout Hidros – combat strength was gauged at SS-rank.
"d.a.m.n, that man is a spy for the royal family." Hidden behind a boulder not that far away from Krigi of old – Alyson listened carefully.
"Princess Gallienne, the village of Krigi has had mysterious visitors today, they seemed acquainted.
The leader looked powerful. However, your highness, I"m sure you"re far powerful than him – please go forth with the plan to exterminate such a feeble settlement."
From afar, a strange noise approached from the direction of the capital. It was something piercing the air and traveling at a rather fast speed – before they knew it, *Bam,* The princess accompanied by her trusty butler landed. Falling in front of said airs.h.i.+p was - a head; the head of the spy they had hired.
"d.a.m.n it, the paint job is ruined by sc.u.m"s blood." The princess spoke out as she got off - instead of an expensive dress, she wore light armor in the color of blood. Her outfit was not that revealing but it was extremely tight.
"Who stands there," Theodore shouted. Coming out of the shadows, Alyson. The place they stood was another broken down village – the buildings were made from stone for once. It was one of the extended settlements from Krigi of old. The place had decent cover as well as s.p.a.ce, a perfect battlefield for an a.s.sa.s.sin.
*Snap,* the concealment spell Staxius had ordered each member to cast on their armor was broken. Stood in front of them, Alyson – she wore her adamant.i.te armor, she was one of the silver guardians now – not an a.s.sa.s.sin who hides in the shadows.
"Isn"t it rude to ask for someone"s name before introducing yourself," she spoke monotonously.
"I apologize, my name is Theodore, a humble butler in the service of her royal highness," He bowed apologetically. "Princess, how should I deal with her?" Ignoring Alyson; Theodore faced away.
"I haven"t the slightest idea, we killed the spy, now it"s time to head for Krigi."
"Princess…" Alyson mumbled, "Are you princess Gallienne?"
"…" She nodded unwillingly. "So, you"re the one who framed lord Staxius?"
The name Staxius sent s.h.i.+vers down the princess"s spine, a long and forgotten name was brought back from the dead. People might have forgotten this now, but Staxius Haggard was once accused of a.s.saulting her royal highness – the reason was that that man had already died, hence, in an attempt to clear the princess"s name as she was defiled by her betrothed; all the blame fell on a dead man.
"Who are you," The look in Gallienne"s eyes changed – her psychotic side was coming out. "I"m
Alyson Geua, no never mind, I"m Alyson Haggard, a guardian as well as a family member from the Haggard family."
"Don"t make me laugh, you wretched thing, the Haggard name ended when I personally killed Staxius Haggard while he slept quietly. I must say, our meeting was by chance if it wasn"t for that annual meeting conducted by Claireville academy – I might not have retained by honor; all thanks to Josiah."
"Surely you jest princess, Staxius Haggard is very much alive." With a quick pull from her right arm, she revealed the dragon insignia burnt into her neck. "As you see, this is proo…" Before completing her sentence, Theodore lunged. The first strike was blocked by Alyson who wielded a rapier, her fast movement paired with her lightning element got Theodore fighting for real. They were equally matched, strike after strike, block after block, an epic standoff between two gifted swordsmen began. Alyson had the upper hand from the start, she managed to get behind Theodore using flash step; she was ready to deliver the final blow.
*Summoning Element, First head of hydra – the devourer.*
Coming out of her right hand, the princess conjured a head which as the name described; nearly bit off Alyson"s head. That slight misstep gave Theodore the advantage to turn around and slice her neck. The cut wasn"t that deep, but she bled. Out of instinct, Alyson jumped back and used what remaining mana she had to heal her wounds.
Sadly, that didn"t stop Gallienne – her face turned from beautiful to hideous, she wanted to see people suffer; the s.a.d.i.s.t came out at last. Her real personality, the devil incarnate.
*Summoning Element, Second head of hydra – the wither.*
The same thing happened; instead of hurting her physically, Gallienne began to sap away Alyson"s remaining willpower, mana as well as strength. She laid on the ground, unable to fight, "I f-failed," *Slash,* Alyson was defeated.
"No, you can"t die just yet," *Summoning Element, third Head of hydra – the healer.*
Unwillingly, the silver guardian was brought back to life, Gallienne began her favorite hobby, torture.
Alyson now bound by nails onto a random wall, the princess began to play around with her, first, she ripped off her nails, slowly. Then, began to cut her all over while ripping her clothes apart – and
for the armor, it was thrown out.
"Come on, scream for me," Despite all the pain; Alyson held hope. "WHY DON"T YOU SCREAM G.o.d d.a.m.n IT."
"Haha… My master will come," Her eyes gleamed with hope.
"YOUR MASTER IS DEAD," the torture got more intense. "I"ll show you my power."
*Summoning Element, Fourth head of hydra – the inferno.* A ma.s.sive fireball appeared; three times
the size of any normal human. "Die…" Alyson closed her eyes thinking that she was her target, however, the spell was aimed for Krigi, Krigi of new.
Meanwhile all that was happening, after her last transmission was heard, Staxius"s fear grew alongside his hatred. "Brother, where are you going." Undrar held his arm before he could leave the entrance."
"…" With hatred burning deep within, Staxius turned around. The remainder of silver guardians as well as Millicent and Fenrir all rushed to his side, they were worried about him. *BANG,* A shock-wave sent everyone flying out the village, the fireball spell landed – Staxius didn"t react in time.
Everything exploded, his heart sank, Eira was still inside.
"Eira… NOOO," Desperately trying to repress the feeling of dread about his daughter dying, he rushed inside. The village was scorching hot, it was the same as in his dream, a girl stood in the middle, she slowly marched forward with a bundle of clothes in her hand. Baffled, Staxius stared, his feet felt a ton, he could not move an inch. The nightmare he so often dreamed about came to reality. The girl instead of crying and screaming; hummed. A song, the same song, the feeling of nostalgia overwhelmed him. The screams and cries of people burning were blocked out, she finally came into touching distance.
Held tightly inside a bundle of clothes, Jessica handed over Eira, half of her face was burnt, you could physically see the burned skin falling off. Her once fair skin was now corrupt, instead of begging for help she smiled.
"J-Jessica… I-I"ll s-save you," He spoke, at last.
"Shhh," Placing her index finger onto his lips, she continued, "Don"t, today was the best day I ever lived. You came back for me, and even promised to take me on adventures together, you even called me your wife, I felt happy." A tear flowed down her cheeks, her final moments were played out in front of him. "Don"t spout bulls.h.i.+t," Subconsciously, Staxius kissed her pa.s.sionately, until she finally exhaled her last breath. Her body fell onto him, she was heavy.
"Jessica…" As the next G.o.d reaper, Staxius saw her soul leave her body along with the others, she smiled, her eyes were flooded with tears. Despite that, there was no regret. "JESSICA!" He shouted.
"Wait for me, I"ll come back for you one day," she blew a kiss towards him and ascended to the hall of rebirth. Powerless for the first time in his life since childhood; with the now dead body of a former
friend held in one hand while the other held Eira; he watched as the village burnt, the inhabitants ran all around. Father Ashford was nowhere to be found, that day everyone in Krigi died. The only link to
his past ended.
"Hhha," He began laughing, "Now this is great." A look of contempt shone, "So weak and feeble." Something changed within, he shrugged what transpired before as if it were nothing. The eyes, once lit with something called hope and the will to live, vanished – instead, the emotionless eyes returned, he was back, the true Staxius Haggard. The only thing keeping him straight was Eira; she smiled and tried imitating the song, that same nostalgic song. In response, he smiled and kissed her forehead.
Everything was transparent, his mind was cleared of doubt; death was the only thing inside.
"Undrar," He walked to where the shock-wave sent his party members, "S-Staxius…" she mumbled,
still dazed from shock.