"What have you done?" I watched my uncle desperately as he remained on his knees before us.
"Exactly what I said I would do." He smiled. The air around us thickened and the darkness enveloped everything in sight. The angry whispers came from everywhere it seemed, and the silence was almost deafening. I could barely make out Obi-Wan who was using his lightsaber to see more than 2 feet before him.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan glanced around and paced in circles around us, afraid to loose us but desperate to find his friend.
"You lost, Lyanna. Arthas is finally free." Derik closed his eyes and concentrated on the pure rage that he sensed all around him. Tiny ice crystals formed on the place blood was covering his cheeks. He chuckled when the whispers around us came closer. "He will kill every single one of you and there will be no stopping him. Not until he has control over the galaxy."
Obi-Wan redirected his gaze towards Derik and pointed his lightsaber at his neck. "How do we defeat him?" he asked as he stepped closer.
"You don't." Derik chuckled as he looked back, unimpressed. The darkness thickened even more till we could barely make out his face. I instinctively grasped Obi-Wan's hand to try and not to loose him, looking around frantically as a dangerous presence seemed to get closer with each passing second.
When he laughed again we both looked back at Derik. He leaned closer towards us as his grin widened, his eyes widening. "You run." He said. Just when he had spoken, black hands grasped him from behind around his chest and pulled him into the thick clouds and out of our reach.
"Blast it!" Obi-Wan jumped back slightly and grasped my hand tighter, his lightsaber trying to light in the direction Derik was just pulled. We heard him chuckle right after that, the sound seeming to come from every direction.
"That's not good." I mumbled as I pressed my back against Obi's, trying not to loose him and watch every direction.
"Any brilliant ideas?" Obi-Wan tried to sound light hearted but I could hear the fear through his voice.
"You're the seasoned commander here, not me." I shivered as the cold bit my skin. An angry growl suddenly came from our left side and we heard footsteps drawing near.
"Be ready." Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes and readied his lightsaber while he held his other arm before me, trying to shield me from the presence in front of us.
A dark silhouette slowly appeared from the dark cloud, his footsteps confident and careful. He was tall and had long hair, his face still masked by the darkness around us. Obi-Wan led out a yell and charged, his lightsaber trying to hit the target before him. The buzzing sound soon filled the space around us when it clashed with another lightsaber.
"Obi-Wan?!" Anakin exclaimed as he had managed to parry the blow right before it'd slashed his face.
"Oh, it's you." He frowned and withdrew, stepping back slightly. "This darkness is getting on my nerves."
"Tell me about it, I've just spent the last few minutes walking around yelling your name." Anakin complained as he waved his arms around.
"You were yelling? We didn't hear a thing." Obi-Wan frowned.
"Whoever this Arthas guy is, he sure does know how to confuse us." Anakin mumbled as he tried to find a way out.
"Lyanna, Lyanna are you there?!" Suddenly Aidans voice boomed through my commlink, making the jedi and me jump slightly in fright.
"Aidan! Thank the gods, are you all right?! We've been trying to reach you but I think they jammed our frequency." I pressed the button on my ear as both jedi looked at me with hope.
"There's too many... —... Dark creatures are sur... —... we need to get —" I could barely make out his voice as the line cracked. "Need medical help... — are left..."
"Aidan! I can't hear you." I looked up at Obi-Wan desperately. "Listen, Arthas broke free, you need to get out of here!"
"Arthas?! Where are—" The line cracked again, sounds of battle and screams of agony coming through as well.
"We're in the palaces courtyard, I believe he is here still." I looked around but saw only black. I noticed the whispers had died out, only silence remaining. "We'll find our own way out just get out of there!"
"Lyanna, don't... - can't run.. - We're loosing... -" the static got even worse until I heard multiple cries coming from my earpiece. It was so loud that even Obi-Wan and Anakin covered their ears. Then only a high pitched peep ensued.
"Aidan?" I bit on my lip to silence the cry that tried to escape my lip. If something happened to my brother, I wouldn't ever forgive myself. "Aidan?!"
"Guys?" Anakin suddenly turned around and held up his lightsaber, his eyes squinting to see into the distance. "I think we got company."
As he laid his hand on my back to try and calm me, Obi-Wan looked into the direction Anakin was. 'I can't see anything. " He sighed.
"Jedi..." The voice sounded closer than before. It was deep and husky, carefully pronouncing every syllable with hate and disgust. Anakin sighed and narrowed his eyes in determination, walking further into the darkness.
"Anakin, don't." Obi-Wan tried to stop him while he held my wrist protectively.
"It's probably just another sith lord, how hard can it-" Suddenly Anakin's body was blasted aside, a yell escaping from his lips as his body dissappeared from our sight.
"Anakin!" I tried to grasp his arm but Obi-Wan held me back, his grip tightening as he looked around us.
"Princess, I think you should fly away now." Obi-Wan said as the presence became more intense with each second. Our breaths were hastened as we frantically looked around. The warmth of his body was the only thing I clinged onto for even a sliver of hope.
"I am not going to leave you here." I spoke through gritted teeth as I took his hand in mine. "Over my dead body-"
Suddenly I felt a pull on my hand, and felt his grip loosening as a force tried to yank him free. "No, Lyanna!" Just before his body was yolted back into the darkness his frightened eyes met mine. "RUN!" He yelled just before he dissappeared.
"Obi-Wan!!" I cried, letting my tears roll down my cheeks as I ran after his body. Only darkness and silence ensued, together with some rocks and debris on the ground as I ran through the open space. "Anakin!" I cried soon after, turning around constantly.
"My dear girl." the voice suddenly was back again, coming from everywhere. I could hear him chuckle, the sound making goosebumps appear on my skin. "Don't you know they are our enemies?"
"No." I shivered but then anger build up inside of me, knowing that he had hurt them. My eyebrows knotted together as my breath hastened, building up the energy within myself.
"You can't save them." he continued menacingly. "Now that I am free, all jedi will die."
"I said NO!" I brought down my fist to the ground, creating an huge wave of fire that reached as far as it could and engulfed the stone walls around me.
The darkness dissappeared as the flames lit up the entire courtyard, burning the few chunks of wood left on the ground. Soon I saw him standing in the midst of the area, his back turned towards me.
He chuckled lightly again, but I couldn't quite make out his face as his huge wings stretched out more than 25 feet. They moved slightly and folded behind his back, showing the pitch black, beatiful feathers which were covered with black razor sharp metal at the ends.
"Such a feeble attempt." He turned to face me, taking my breath away when I could make out his face. I'd expected scars and black marks, maybe even fangs and horns but this was something else entirely. He had thick dark eyebrows, red glowing eyes that created warm shadows on his toned features. His cheekbones were very defined and his mouth was pale, not even a rosy tint to either that or his cheeks. "It takes courage though." he shrugged.
"Give me back my jedi." I growled.
"Who are you supposed to be?" He continued, ignoring my request and looked down on me as he folded his hands behind his back, walking around me in a circle and inspecting me.
"Lyanna Stormrage." I growled through my teeth as I narrowed my eyes at him, trying not to look scared. "I demand that you free-"
"I think I gave you the wrong impression of the situation my dear." he stopped dead in his tracks. "You are in no position to demand anything."
"I am the Val'kyr." All the frustration and anger in me replaced the fear that was previously dominating. "By Valerian law you must obey my commands." this made him raise his eyebrows slightly, but no comment ensued. "Where are they?!" I pressed on, grasping my sword in my hands tightly and raised it before my face.
"Stormrages." Arthas chuckled as he continued to circle around me. "Always demanding things." He rolled his eyes. "So tell me, are you Eric's granddaughter? Or did he marry another woman after I killed his first?"
"I am adopted."
"Congratulations, dear Lyanna." He made a small bow, making me drop my guard in confusion. "You've earned a quick death." he smiled. Before I truly realized what he had said he had charged towards me. I managed to raise my sword just in time to parry his attack, the edge of his black sword just inches before my face. My eyes darted to his, which were filled with joy it seemed as his grin grew even wider.
With one move he extended his other arm and another sword immediatelly formed. He quickly tried to stab me in my belly, luckily I had jumped backwards and avoided his other sword. As I turned around I gained momentum, and put all the energy in another move forward with my fist. Flames emitted and burned the side of his face.
"Ouch." He simply mumbled with the burned side turned away from me. I waited in anticipation as he slowly turned towards me, but instead of scorched, burned flesh I saw it healing quickly and returning back to normal.
"Aidan." My whole body was trembling as I stepped backwards slowly, my eyes trained on Arthas's smug grin. He continued to walk towards me with large, confident strides. "You should run."
Arthas took another swing at me but instead of parrying it, I jumped out of the way. There was no way that I could block it, not with the strength he had. My only advantage was in speed and size, the only chance I had at surviving being hiding. When I dodged his attack Arthas grew tired of trying and used the force to knock me over on the ground, my back colliding with a wall behind me.
With my back against the wall I tried to get up but black, smoky hands emerged from the ground, grasping around my arms and legs. I tried to yank free or burn those hands but my attempts were in vain. Their hold only tightened and pushed me against the cold hard stone.
"Your jedi will die in agony." Suddenly Arthas's calm face contorted into one filled with rage as his eyes glowed darker and more fiercely as he walked closer. "I will tear them apart limb by limb until they beg me to end their lives and then-" he held up one finger in the air. "I will make them watch as I destroy their republic right in front of them." He then knelt down in front of me, his eyebrows furrowing togeter.
"Such a shame." He said as his hand reached for my hair, softly letting one strand glide through his fingers. My heart almost beat out of my chest as I tried to get away from him. He chuckled at my efforts and redirected his gaze at my wide open, fearfull eyes. He grasped his dagger from his belt and twisted it around in his hand, sighing as he continued. "I could've used a Val'kyr."
Just before he could stab me in my chest, thunder struck right behind us, the light blinding our vision. The rumble of the storm followed as rain started to pour down again, even more lightning strikes striking all around.
I watched as Arthas's grin soon dissapeared and turned into a snarl as he realized what it meant. "Stormrage." He growled and turned around. When I saw him arriving I first felt huge relief, but that soon turned into worry. Groaning while I tried to break free, I watched deperatelly as Arthas readied himself for a fight.
"That's enough, Arthas." My Father, Eric, landed in the midst of the courtyard, his grey grand wings folding behind his back. "Your quarrel is with me, not her."
"Father, don't!" I struggled against the hands holding me. He only spared me a glance before returning his attention towards the menacing man before us. Arthas however created another hand with a wave of his own that glasped around my mouth, silencing my cries.
"Where is Fireheart?" Arthas growled and walked towards Eric.
"He's dead." He simply stated.
"Then that only leaves me you." Arthas stated and immediatelly attacked, flipping his wings to attack Eric from above. As he flew down again Eric channeled the lightning around us and drove it down on Arthas, who quickly fell on the ground.
I felt the hold of the magical hands on me subsiding, but they were still too strong to break free from. I watched as Arthas slowly got up but again there was no scratch on his body. Instead, his grin only seemed to grow wider. He jumped towards Eric again, their swords crashing together.
I was reminded of the power my father actually had when he summoned lighting with every strike he made. His golden hair reflected the light as he continued to battle against Arthas, whose stamina was clearly depleting and with that the hold his spell had on me. "Lyanna, get out of here!" My father yelled when he saw me freeing myself from the magic bonds.
Instead of obeying him, I grasped my sword from the ground and ran towards them. I wasn't going to leave my father behind, not when I knew that he could have an attack at any minute and be left vulnerable to Arthas's might. I watched as with another powerful strike with his lightning-powered sword my father disarmed Arthas.
Trying to aid him even further, I swung my sword at his dark wings, knowing that it would make him feel imeasurable pain. Instead of it slicing through them it clashed against the black fabric.
With a snarl Arthas instantly turned around and faced me. "Oh dear." I stuttered and stepped back. Before I could react he had raised his hand, using the force to choke the air out of me and raise me up in the air. I thrashed around in protest as tears ran down my cheeks.
"Arthas!" My father bellowed and made a risky strike, letting down his guard to deliver a more powerful hit. Arthas dropped me immediatelly and turned around, dodging the strike aimed for his head by bowing down. Eric made another swing from the other side but Arthas managed to grasp his sword in mid air, growling as blood seeped through his fingers.
"You will pay for what you have done!" Arthas yelled. Eric's eyes widened as he tried to yank his sword free. Using this to his advantage, Arthas grasped that arm and twisted it around, making Eric drop his sword with a yell of pain. As he was holding his arm and collecting his strength Arthas had taken Eric's sword and plunged it into his chest.
"No!" I yelled and jumped on him from behind, my arms locked around his neck and my legs wrapped around his chest. I slapped, kicked and did everything in my power to make him turn away from my wounded father.
Arthas groaned in frustration and swung his wings backwards, making us collide against the wall. "You're becoming a pest." He growled when my arms loosened, leaving him able to throw me off and turn around. As I lay on the ground he glared down on me. Even though I was unarmed and weak, I jumped up and kicked but Arthas dodged it easily. My moves were slow and weak but the anger in me kept me going, occasionally aiding me with a gush of flames coming from my hands. It burned his armor and left dark spots, but otherwise than that it only seemed to infuriate him further.
"That's enough!" A surge of energy came from him, throwing me back on the ground and making my head collide against the hard stone. Dark spots covered my vision and my limbs fell down at my side as if huge rocks were dragging them down. Above all the immense pain was blinding my vision so that I could barely make out him coming closer.
"Lyanna!" I couldn't make out who it was, but I could see Arthas turning around to glance at them. More voices came from the other side of the courtyard and footsteps followed quickly.
Arthas slightly knelt down before me and grasped my chin. "I need you to take a message to the new king." He looked deeply into my eyes. "Surrender to me in a week's time, right here in Borovia, or suffer the consequences." He patted my cheek and then stood up, extending his wings and flying away.
I sighed as I slowly got up, watching as about 5 people ran towards us. Before them was Aidan with his sword raised, his entire body covered in blood, and behind them were Anakin and Obi-Wan both with concerned looks on their faces. My gaze darted towards my father who was lying motionless on the ground.
"Father?!"