Waiting. And watching. Daemon was all just a distraction. Nathan winced and had the strong urge to scrap the plan. He didn't want Daemon to suffer. Yet he watched as Daemon fought and lost, suffering through the entire way from taking the attacks of a brute warrior. Nathan grit his teeth for the billionth time. This was it. One chance to do it right.
He jumped down quietly from behind Leo. Daemon was on his knees, gasping for breath. He was severely injured, and looked on the verge of passing out. Nathan crept close enough to be in range to activate his powers. He waited, and watched Leo as he walked toward Daemon. Raised his sword over to cut Daemon into pieces. And then Nathan struck.
His sealing powers emitted a green light as chains wrapped around Leo from behind and Nathan pulled on the chains. The glowing form of Leo glowed brighter. Then it became nothing. Nathan had sealed Leo into his own body. A bright flash of pain sent Nathan collapsing onto the ground. The last few things he saw from the scene was Daemon lying on the ground, unknown whether or not he was dead, and then the lights went dark.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A jolt of pain woke Nathan.
Nathan sat up slowly, rubbing his head. He wondered what had happened to get himself into the infirmary. He looked over to the bed beside him.
Empty.
It was clear someone had been in that bed not long ago, but Nathan knew it was most likely one of his fellow warriors.
All the memories came rushing back into Nathan's head.
Leo. Sealing. Daemon. Mission.
Nathan panicked. Did he seal Leo? Was Daemon okay? Where was Teufel?
Nathan pinched his arm to clear his head. Everything was alright. Nathan looked around and saw one of Daemon's shirts on the other bed. Nathan knew at once Daemon had been in that bed. As for Teufel...she had probably been the one who brought them back.
Nathan got up and out on his jacket. He sheathed his sword, which was lying beside the bed. Nathan pulled on his boots and walked out of the room. Before he had to get to his friends, he had to make sure of something with his goddess.
Nathan felt her presence before he saw her. Fleur's godly aura was so powerful that it radiated all around the huge marble clearing. Marked with trees here and there, the center had four paths leading to different parts of the entire place. The center also consisted of a glowing white pillar. The goddess stood in front of it, murmuring something unintelligible.
"Lady Fleur?" Nathan said, dropping to one knee, and lowered his head.
"Nathan. It seems like you have healed." The goddess turned around.
"Yes Lady Fleur. I came to ask a question. We succeeded in the mission, correct? So...why does it feel like there's not a second body inside me?"
Fleur smiled sadly. "Leo is unconscious. Being sealed inside someone else's body isn't as simple as you think it is. It's rendered him immobile for the time being, until he's awakened. Also, I have a new mission for you."
Nathan looked up suddenly, rattled by the sudden change of topic.
"What is it?"
"One of Chaos's warriors is on the move. They most likely heard about Leo's sealing."
"Leo being sealed makes them vulnerable, yes?"
"Correct."
"Planned?"
"Likely."
"Mission accepted."
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nathan walked into the marble room with its glass dome rimmed with gold. The middle of the room consisted of a glass pane for the floor, showing a huge lake of water. Nathan looked up and saw Teufel and Daemon. He couldn't help but smile at his fellow warriors, as he motioned them to go.
Walking through the portal, the first thought came to mind: it's so quiet here. And slightly cold. Of course it was. A snowy landscape and a completely frozen body of water was where their destination was. Nathan stopped and looked around, looking for signs of any intruders. Daemon gestured Nathan and Teufel over. Nathan nodded as Daemon explained the plan. Nathan knew he wasn't back at full strength yet after the sealing, so he wouldn't be able to fight very well, but he had come for the mission anyway.
Teufel was on alert, her eyes scanned the area. Nathan knew she was very capable of fast paced action, and her teleportation helped with that. Her scythe was swung over her shoulder, and Nathan couldn't help but think that she was quite a scary person to mess with. He looked away and concentrated on Daemon, who was now showing a red Arc.
Nathan's attempt at concentration failed a few seconds later when a red and void black glade narrowly missed Nathan and sliced into the ice of the frozen water. All three warriors heard someone land behind them.
"Vlad," Nathan replied, looking annoyed, yet alert. Nathan knew Vlad was capable in his own way.
Two or three Spawn of Evils emerged from the trees. Out of the corner of his eyes, Nathan saw Teufel stiffen and unlock her scythe.
Battle was coming.
Nathan's hand went to rest on his sword on instinct. His senses sharpened as he eyed the enemy.
Vlad, who's menacing eyes glowed like the devil, smiled viciously. "Already trying to track me down? I'm quite surprised."
Nathan's grip on his sword tightened more as the Spawn of Evil closed in on them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Teufel handle her scythe, ready to pierce Vlad at any moment.
Suddenly, the Spawn of Evil launched at Teufel and Nathan, giving them no time to react, but they launched into battle. Nathan blocked a hit from the first mob, and used his powers to enhance his speed and get a safer distance away from the mob to measure its attacks.
Nathan knew Daemon was in the process of fighting Vlad, but there was no knowing that he would win. Vlad was quite powerful.
Nathan grit his teeth as he launched an attack, and with his super-speed, he cut down the Spawn of Evil. He heard Teufel do the same near him.
Nathan slid his focus from the Spawn of Evil, and watched in horror as Daemon was flung onto the exterior of the frozen lake, injured, but alive.
Vlad, too, was on the surface of the frozen lake, but he had the upper hand. His powers allowed him to activate and strengthen his powers through the damage he takes, and he had turned all that pain...into the power source.
Nathan watched as Daemon pulled himself up. Nathan looked up and saw Vlad's glade aimed at Daemon with all the dark energy enveloping around Vlad. Nathan realized too late what this meant.
He heard Daemon yell, "Run!" and an arm grabbing Nathan from behind, and then the scenery flashed away in a glow of purple.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nathan sat on a tree log, getting warmed by a fire made by Teufel. She sat on the other side of the fire, quiet. Nathan felt like a failure, full of despair.
Why didn't Daemon teleport away with us? Nathan answered himself. He was far too injured to do anything, slowpoke.
Nathan knew in his heart that Daemon was gone. After surviving a narrow mission involving a brute warrior, he was unalived by a maniac during a find and kill mission.
Exhaustion finally crept into Nathan as time passed, and Nathan drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Nathan's dreams were anything but pleasant. The scene of the sealing of Leo and Daemon's death kept repeating over and over, and the disturbing scenes of things he never saw flashed through his dreams. Nightmares.
Suddenly, the dream shifted into Nathan's old village. Nathan felt a sense of anger as he remembered the day Leo had massacred his tribe and left Nathan with nothing. Leo had been sealed once, but this time Nathan intended to keep Leo in for as long as he could.
The dream shifted. Nathan expected to see his tribe get massacred by Leo, but instead, it shifted to the village near their base. Fleur's warriors often went there when they weren't busy. But the village wasn't the bright and calm place it was supposed to be. Instead, fires raged throughout the village like a wave of wind, and many villagers were scattered across the ground, dead or injured.
Nathan's blood turned to ice. Where were his friends? What had happened?
Somewhere in Nathan's unconsciousness, I voice attempted to tell Nathan is was a dream, but Nathan couldn't hear it through the roars of despair.
Daemon.
Teufel.
...No.
They were all scattered around the ground, covered in blood. Teufel's sightless eyes stared back at Nathan with blood dribbling from her mouth. Beside her, a half demon Arc wielded was dead, one arm severed from the body. Daemon had multiple stab wounds in his chest, and he was suspended midair by a ragged spear stuck in the ground.
Nathan shook his head, trying to shake it out.
Dream! Dream! Dream!
The scene changed. Then the world began to clear into a blissful white, and Nathan's mind drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
Nathan didn't wake up because he wanted to. He woke up because he felt that something wasn't right. He looked around, and noticed that Tefuel was gone. A sense of panic engulfed him. He just lost a friend, he couldn't afford to lose another one. He bolted up and ran, searching for Tefuel.
Nathan ran and ran, using hismoowers to enhance his speed. Along the way, he thought he saw some Spawns Of Evil, but he wasn't dealing with them unless they attacked him. His top priority was to find Teufel.
Eventually he came across a large ravine, where he looked back and forth, searching for Tefuel, almost missing the red haired maniac. Nathan felt a slow burn of anger grow inside him.
He drew his sword. Then he launched into the air at Vlad.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nathan gritted his teeth as his sword clashed against Vlad's glade. With Nathan's weakness, Vlad had a slighter advantage in battle.
Nathan heard some commotion on the other side of the ravine, and he knew with great relief that Tefuel was okay and holding her own.
Nathan and Vlad locked eyes, and they continued to parry. Nathan's mind drifted back to the sealing of Leo, unwillingly, and he almost got impaled by Vlad.
Nathan turned his focus back to Vlad, who slashed at Nathan as they fell down the cliff side and waterfall. They parried and clashed, until Nathan landed on a stone platform. Vlad phased through a cliff side ceiling, through a red portal, and with his powers, he shot several beams of red at Nathan. Nathan, sensing this, raised his sword and cut the beams out of the way with amazing speed.
The final beam neared Nathan and exploded in red light.
You aren't getting rid of me that fast, Nathan thought as he jumped from the clouded explosion, emitting green light as he dashed up the ravine.
Nathan landed beside Teufel as she finished off another Spawn of Evil.
Nathan's shoulders sagged in relief that his companion was okay. He turned to Vlad, who had landed on a high treetop near them. His face was contorted in pure anger. Nathan and Teufel readied themselves for battle.
Just then, a flash of pain sent Nathan collapsing onto the ground. His head felt like it was exploding. He slowly raised his head.
Vlad... Get them.