OPHELIA

And So It Begins

Odessa's face became deathly pale as she realised what had just been unleashed unto the world. Eres , the dark king , had resurrected and manifested himself inside Aria.

"Your Highness." Eres bowed gracefully. "You look as radiant as ever. " Wasting no time, she attacked him, raising her right arm to push the air around her, she engulfed Eres in a massive conjuring of silver white flames .

Eres sighed. He tapped his left foot, causing the flames to disperse and knocking Odessa off her feet.

"I'm not going to kill you," Eres explained. "In fact , I'll keep you alive just so I can suck the magic right out of your fucking soul."

He hadn't changed a bit. Twenty years in hell had only given Eres time , in which he used to fuel his already blistering hatred for anything Ophelian. For him, killing both Cornelius and Odessa would be a piece of cake, but that wasn't the plan. He had an endgame. This was only the beginning.

He decided long ago the game would end with Aria. The last remaining survivor - his successor. She had a sensible wit and strong will, which was hard to find in any ruler. Yes, a fine queen for his kingdom.

Odessa crawled to her feet. Her body stood tall.

"I've never seen someone so eager to die," Eres remarked. "You must be stupid."

"I'm not letting you take Aria! She has nothing to do with your sadistic hunt for retribution," Odessa said. "Get out of her body, before I rip you out myself! "

"Umm..." Eres paused. "No."

Odessa glanced around the room , Cornelius and Marcus were out cold but Vladimir was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly the air became heavy with darkness and Odessa's attention was back on Eres, just in time as he began his attack, sending shards of broken glass her way.

She ducked once, twice; wave after wave. Each round coming at her faster than the first, there was no way of dogding this forever. Reaching to the core of her magic she summoned hot blazing fire. The intensity nearly burnt her hands, she aimed her right hand and pointed her finger directly at Eres.

Eres lifted both hands infront of himself and the tornado of flames were absorded.

"Come on, Queen of Ophelia, is that all you've got? No wonder you couldn't protect your own daughter." Eres broke out into a menacing laugh that could chill the core of the sun. He raised his left hand and a vortex of black smoke appeared, then he aimed three shard infront of the queen, infusing them with his dark magic.

Odessa's luck had ran out, she dodged the first two, but the third hit its mark. A thick, crystalized piece of glass rammed itself inside her shoulder.

Eres' advances were quick. Before she could realise he was on top of her, plunging another piece of glass in her chest.

Her ogreous screams shot through the air. The sound had even rattled Aria's cage - deep within the remnants of her mind.

"I've changed my mind," Eres said . "You're not worth the trouble."

He was going to kill her- he really was. In this short span of time he'd came up with six hundred different ways. Yet, Eres' hands stood still in mid-air.

"The fuck," he muttered.

It was Aria. Somewhere deep inside she was fighting to gain control.

Eres stepped back, smiling to himself. He hadn't given Aria enough credit. He knew she was strong, but not this strong. Without a moments hesitation Eres took his leave. Surrounding himself in layers of green smoke he vanished from the room.