Morrigan's Lost

Chapter One

Even with his padded armor, black cape and covered face, Ryos managed to walk through the crowd without attracting the attention of any one soul, weaving his way through the crowd with practiced ease. Stalls selling local delicacies and small trinkets lined the streets, all in preparation for the great affair to take place later in the day. Murmurs of festivity and merriment sounded all around Ryos as he silently and swiftly made his way towards the Praetor's palace at the base of the hill where the other five Cohorts were being trained.

As he side-stepped a horse-pulled cart which ambled along the paved streets, a feeling of dread and chill started to fill Ryos' head. Standing still for a minute, he looked around, seeing if there was anyone following him. A quick look behind him dispelled that illusion, but his heart continued to race and his breath started to frost as it left his mouth.

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remain, no matter how improbable must be the truth," Ryos muttered to himself, looking up towards where the large encampments of the new Morrigan's regiments stood.

He picked up his pace, cursing himself for even stopping for a short period of time. He had to warn his brother, the Darkness was coming, and a lingering feeling in his mind told him that he was the only one who knew. As he rushed past several families, Ryos felt pangs of pain in knowing that the people of Morrigan would not get out of this fight unscathed. But warning them now would do nothing more than to fill the streets with panicked and frightened individuals, something which would only hinder the effects of the Cohorts.

A sudden rumble knocked Ryos off balance as he pushed his way through the throngs of people in the streets. A sharp crack of thunder followed as the very ground beneath his feet started to crack and liquefy. All around him, men and women screamed and struggled to get to shelter as rubble from the crumbling buildings all around. Pulling himself up, Ryos pulled out Dread ready to meet any threat.

As if on cue, a patch of cobble ahead of him seemingly melted and a sphere of dark energy slid up, molten rock sliding off it. As the bubble of energy drained back towards the liquid ground, a single bipedal form straightened, its armor seemingly melded to its body. Flanking it on either side were two smaller quadrupedal beasts which looked like large attack dogs, burly beasts capable of easily stripping the flesh off a human being.

Clenching his sword in his right hand, he advanced towards the Darkness which had appeared before him. Clearing his mind of all unnecessary thoughts, he identified the foe as a Baron, not a simple rank and file enemy, one who had to be taken seriously. Where it would take at least three men to defeat such an enemy, only Ryos himself stood before the monster and the streets of Morrigan. But Ryos had not attained the rank of Primus by force of will.

"As the crow flies the ground melts," he incanted in an ancient tongue known but to those within the order.

As soon as the words left his lips, a molten globe of steel formed before his outstretched left arm and shot towards the stationary Baron. Having misjudged the man who stood before him, the Baron barely shifted away from the path of projectile, which still managed to graze its left shoulder, punching through it cleanly before colliding into one of its companion beasts boring through it completely as well.

As the Baron let out a roar of pain, he pulled the heavy one-handed axe which hung on his thigh, intent on killing the human who had harmed him. Its left arm hug uselessly by its side as the Baron shouted in its guttural language. The other beast, who had watched its mate killed mercilessly roared in anger as well, charging Ryos with its claws and teeth bared.

As the beast charged, he side stepped it, angling Dread to where his body was but a moment ago. Momentum and blind rage didn't allow the beast to stop as the amber blade of his sword plunged into and tore at the flank of the monster, killing it as the blade slashed past its heart. Bracing himself against the ground, he pulled on the weapon, removing it from the still moving body of the beast with a sickening noise. Holding his sword before him with both hands, he concentrated again picturing the incantation in his mind before saying it.

"The wings fold as the metal hardens," he incanted again, the ancient language flowing off the tongue with preternatural ease. It was the very beauty of the Fell, no two spells were the same, the formation of the language as important as the mind which cast it. Any string of words in the forgotten language of Nyrialas alongside the concentrated thought of a practiced user allowed spells of immense power to be cast.

His sword's blade hardened, Ryos swung haphazardly at the Baron before him, trying to catch him off-guard. Under the onslaught of unrelenting blows from Dread, the Baron could only block the blows, backpedaling with each swing from Ryos. With a deft switch of his stance, Ryos plunged the blade straight towards the torso of the Darkness which stood before him. Caught by surprise, it let out a guttural roar, bringing up its large axe to try to ward off the blow. The hardened amber smashed through the wooden shaft of the weapon before plunging into the Baron's chest.

Dropping its weapon, the Baron clutched at the grievous wound to his chest, attempting to stop the flow of dark purple sludge from the plunged blade. As it sunk to its knees in pain, Ryos pulled out his blade with a heavy groan before swinging it in an arc and detaching the Baron's head from the rest of his body.

As the now headless body toppled on its side, Ryos checked around him to see if any more of the Darkness had ventured into his vicinity. Seeing that there were none, he pushed his attention to the main encampment of the Morrigan's regiments where the majority of the Darkness presence on the island seemed to be coming from.

Stepping past the lifeless corpse of the Baron which was already melting slowly into sludge, he sheathed his blade and started to run towards the Praetor palace where he knew his brother was no doubt fighting.

All around him, people were trying to seek shelter within their homes, the streets clear except for the occasional corpse of a poor soul who had been struck by rubble or stampeded by the crowd. Families of some wailed and mourned around the bodies of those who had not been fortunate enough to seek shelter while some others tried to move injured persons towards shelter. With the streets clear, Ryos sprinted towards the gates of the Praetor's mansion which appeared to have been ripped off their hinges.

Clearing his mind of any thoughts he focused on trying to find the closest presence of Darkness, knowing that there was a high chance his brother was there as well. With the general location in mind, Ryos jumped over large pieces of rubble from the mansion walls and gate, sprinting towards a separate building where he immediately noticed signs of struggle and fighting.

As Ryos rounded the corner into a long corridor, he was met with the sight of his brother, or more accurately what was left of him. A statue stood in the middle of the hallway, half human half marble. His brother had been hit with energy, something strong enough to change his very flesh into stone. Anger and sorrow flooded his thoughts as he realized that his brother had been killed by the very being he swore he would protect his Empire from.

Shouting in anger, Ryos walked slowly towards the statue, tears of pain rolling down his dusty cheeks. As he walked closer towards what used to be his brother, he noticed how the statue still held its weapon in mid swing. By some miracle, the right side of Roeland's body remained preserved in its organic form, his fist still clenching Despair in mid swing.

Sorrow filling his mind, he pulled its twin from its sheath, the blade humming in close proximity with its other half.  "I swear by this blade that I would never let another fall while I still draw breath," Ryos vowed, thinking of all the times he had fought side by side with his brother.

With a pause, he released Roeland's grip over Despair, holding it in his other hand, thinking to himself, "And with this blade I swear I will rend the one who did this to you in half."