' Peace was restored to Ardonia, and a time for rebuilding and healing began. The wounds caused by the Deathsinger, however, will be felt forever. The Great War, 11th Wall of Time…' A Sendaris Ardoni finishes reading.
He turns around. ' Hawken, I fail to see…'
He sees a human male leaning on the wall, snoring. ' Hawken?'
Hawken wakes up, startled. ' Ah, yes, yes, exactly! So you see what this means, Thalleous?'
' Hawken, were you sleeping through…'
Hawken zips to the wall and points to the writing.
' Look here, where do the Walls of Time say the final duel took place?' Hawken asks.
' Mount Velgrin…' Thalleous replies, confused and curious.
' Indubitably! Most legends, including this bungled Walls of Time, failed to state that the final duel took place on the mountain's peak!'
' Alright, so what does this mean?' Thalleous asks, still confused.
Hawken composes himself, hands behind his back.
' I've heard rumors of a presence on the peak of Mount Velgrin. Being the naturally curious scholar that I am, I sent a few scouts to transform those rumors into facts, ' he says, ' That was two weeks ago…'
' And...What was their report?'
' There was no report! None ever returned! Why do you think that is?'
' I am not entirely sure…' Thalleous begins.
' The Voltaris, Thalleous! The Voltaris! ' Hawken tells Thalleous.
Thalleous raises an eyebrow. ' You think the Voltaris are at Mount Velgrin?' he asks.
' Indubitably! ' Hawken nods, ' I am aware you've been hunting Voltaris ever since the Great War ended, so I brought you here to inform you of this lead.'
Thalleous gazes to the wall and sighs.
' It's been years since I lost the trail of the Voltaris. I should ride to Mount Velgrin and see for myself.'
' A-a-a. Hold up there, Thalleous! Although I am no Chronicler, I feel it is my duty to accompany you and record what information we find.'
Thalleous raises an eyebrow.
' I would… also like to discover the fate of those I sent out to investigate…' Hawken says sadly.
Thalleous looks at him. ' There's a chance we might encounter the Voltaris, and who knows what other perils…' he warns Hawken.
Hawken raises his hand to stop him.
' Fear not, for I am prepared to fight!' He pulls out a raw fish.
Thalleous looks at him, confused and annoyed.
He looks down at it, and tosses it over his shoulder. He shuffles through his inventory.
' Wa-wait! Somewhere around here I have a weapon…unless I lost it!'
He pulls out an iron sword. ' Ah, here it is!'
Thalleous sighs. ' Very well, come on then. Most likely this was just a misunderstanding.'
They walk towards the exit of the Walls of Time.
~*~
They traveled all the way from upper Northwind, pass the Heart of Ardonia, and finally get off their horses by the base of Mount Velgrin.
They walk around a clearing at the top of the mountain. Other than a mysterious obsidian arch in the center, there was only snow.
' This is where I sent the scouts, right here!' Hawken claims.
Thalleous looks around. He notices an entrance in the mountain. He walks inside and sees signs of people being there recently. He picks up a shield, hurries towards Hawken and drops the shield down near him.
' Someone has been here, recently,' Thalleous tells him.
' How peculiar,' Hawken puts his hand to his chin, making a thinking pose, ' Why would they leave their belongings where others might find them?'
Thalleous is quiet for a moment. Then he speaks up, ' Because they are still here…'
Thalleous slowly turns around, and there are Voltaris around the edge of the clearing. Hawken draws out his iron sword, and Thalleous draws out his enchanted diamond sword.
One Voltaris steps forward. ' You must be Thalleous Sendaris. I've heard many things about you.'
' And I have heard nothing about you.' Thalleous glares at the Voltaris.
' Oh, I know. I've made quite sure about that,' the Voltaris says as he strokes his sword. ' Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tygren Voltaris. '
Thalleous looks at Tygren, ready to fight.
' As for you, Thalleous Sendaris, I know who you are, Champion! ' Tygren continues, ' And I know what you have done to my clan. Your sword has slain many of my brothers. Once I kill you, I will take it and slay twice as many of yours!'
Tygren twirls around and points his sword at Thalleous. He fires his Agressium Song, a large energy ball that travels slowly at Thalleous, who rolls out of the way. Thalleous activates his sword.
Tygrwn leaps at Thalleous, swinging his sword. Thalleous backs up as his sword swings pass him.
Tygren attacks again, and Thalleous blocks it with his sword. Tygren suddenly lifts his leg and kicks Thalleous on the face, causing Thalleous to stumble back.
Tygren swings his sword again, but Thalleous recovers just in time to block it.
Their swords continue to clash, and Thalleous finally kicks Tygren back before whirling around with his sword.
Tygren stumbles forward, injured. Thalleous raises his sword as Tygren looks back at him.
Thalleous raises his sword.
Despite being injured, Tygren regains himself and stands his ground.
Thalleous teleports forward and swings his sword. Tygren ducks and Thalleous attacks again. Tygren rolls out of the way.
Tygren regains his feet, and Thalleous charges at him. Thalleous clashes his sword with Tygren's and pushes him backwards. Tygren tries to push him back, but Thalleous kicks his feet and Tygren staggers as Thalleous kicks him a second time, throwing him onto the ground.
Thalleous pounces on him, but Tygren quickly gets up as Thalleous' sword plants into the ground where he was.
Thalleous pulls his sword back out from the ground with both hands and swings it at Tygren, who blocks it with his sword.
Thalleous continues to attack multiple times and Tygren struggles to block them all. Then, Thalleous manages to kick Tygren back.
Tygren is pushed back and almost falls over. He still doesn't admit defeat, and looks back up at Thalleous as he twirls his sword in his hand, waiting for Thalleous to attack again.
Thalleous does so, and swings his sword at Tygren. Tygren seizes the opportunity, and as Thalleous swings his sword, Tygren leaps over Thalleous, cutting him in the chest mid-air.
Thalleous places his hand on his wound as he looks back at Tygren, who smiles triumphly.
Hawken rushes forward to help, but Thalleous pushes him away, not wanting him to get hurt.
Tygren charges at him, and Thalleous slips out of the way. Tygren then kicks Thalleous and throws his sword in his direction. Thalleous barely dodges the sword and it hits the ground.
Tygren is now unarmed, but continues fighting. He kicks Thalleous back and reaches his sword. He pulls it out of the ground and kicks Thalleous, who is still face-flat on the ground.
Thalleous quickly gets back up as Tygren jumps on him.
Tygren kicks Thalleous backwards just before Thalleous teleports behind him. Thalleous' sword falls a few feet away from him.
Tygren fires his Song again at Thalleous as he crawls towards his sword.
Hawken quickly grabs the shield from earlier from the ground. He stands in front of Thalleous and the Song completely destroys the shield.
Thalleous continues crawling towards his sword as Tygren walks forward.
Hawken raises his sword and is prepared to fight.
Thalleous finally grabs his sword and stands up, but turns to see Hawken with Tygren's sword through his body. Tygren pulls out his sword, and Hawken falls to the ground.
Thalleous is dumbfounded for a moment. He finally regains himself, and charges at Tygren in rage of losing his friend, but Tygren slips to the side and swings his sword at Thalleous, who falls to the ground.
' So many years we have prepared for this, and you are not about to interfere,' Tygren says menacingly as he pulls out his sword, ready to plant it into Thalleous. Thalleous quickly grabs his sword and teleports away.
Thalleous runs to the edge of a cliff and jumps, and in mid-air teleports once more to the far side, landing painfully as he grunts from the impact.
He gets up slowly and looks back to the far side of the cliff. Many Voltaris line the edge of the cliff, their red eyes and marking showing through the dense snow and mist. But none go after Thalleous.
Thalleous turns around, and runs towards the opposite direction.