/A/N/ There are only a few minor changes in this chapter from the original series.
This chapter will all be in third person view, it's been a while since I wrote a story in third person view.
Third person view
At Ferndale, a few guards are watching the gate.
Suddenly, the bushes start rustling and the guards point their weapons at the bush.
' Who goes there?' Alec, who was one of the guards, asks.
' Alec, it's me, Lucan!' Lucan comes out of the bushes, wearing half of his Necromancer attire.
' Lucan?! Where’ve you been? Kiyoshi’s going to kill you when…'
Lucan interrupts him. ' Listen, I don’t have time to argue about what rules I’ve broken or what sort of trouble I’m in. The Necromancers aren’t attacking Ferndale! They’re heading straight to the capital, and they’re almost there.'
' How do you even know this? Lucan, I have to take you in, Kiyoshi needs to hear this from you.' Alec draws out his sword.
' I can’t, not until I get her back. If you want to stop me, you’re going to have to kill me… which I’d prefer if you didn’t.'
Alec lowers his sword, and Lucan rushes back into the woods.
Kiyoshi is looking over his battle plans.
' The evacuation is complete. We’ve fortified the perimeter, but the mines have been quiet… too quiet. They should have attacked by now…'
Alec runs in. ' Captain! Captain Kiyoshi! Lucan just arrived at camp. He’s been undercover with the Necromancers and says they’re marching straight to Felora.'
Kiyoshi’s eyes widen. He looks back at the map as he thinks whether to believe it or not.
He eventually looks up. ' Pack what you can! We ride to Felora immediately!'
They load up and rush towards the capital of Felden.
~*~
The fight is already underway in Felora. Necromancers are throughout the city, undead are attacking civilians.
A few civilians are cornered. Undead begin walking towards them, and Kiyoshi rides up on his horse. He kills the undead and dismounts.
' Our first priority is to protect the people! Evacuate everyone you can down the main road!'
' Yes, sir!' Alec hurries off as Kiyoshi fights off more undead.
At the top of the tree the Felden Officials are being escorted by a Necromancer and some undead. Kiyoshi jumps up onto the platform and fights off the undead with his dual swords.
' Captain? We thought you were in Ferndale?' one of the officials is surprised to see Kiyoshi.
' We have to get you out of the city! This way, hurry!'
Kiyoshi continues killing off more undead.
He clears a path for the officials to escape. He turns to the officials. ' Has the beacon been disabled?'
' We removed the Nether Star yesterday. Felora has been on lockdown ever since.'
' Good, that will at least prevent these foul demons from attacking the other capitals.'
He stops as he sees something at the end of the hanging walkway.
The Necrolord is at the other end of the walkway, a zombie, two Necromancers and Niika behind him.
One of the officials shiver. ' Captain Kiyoshi is one of the greatest swordsmen in Ardonia. We have nothing to fear… right?'
Kiyoshi turns to the them. ' Go back the way we came. Get to the forest floor and leave the city.'
The officials hurry off. Kiyoshi takes a few steps forward and confronts the Necrolord.
' Ah, Captain Kiyoshi… you must realize you are defeated. What shame you must feel to have allowed your kingdom to fall to such… what did you call us? “Foul demons?”'
Kiyoshi spins his sword around, ready to fight. ' As long as I stand, so will Felden.'
The Necrolord takes a few steps forward. ' I’m so glad you see it that way. You are as courageous as your dead soldiers… but soon you will join them. This is not a battle you can win.'
' He's not alone.'
One of the Necromancers stabs the other Necromancer and kicks the zombie off the walkway.
The Necrolord turns around, and the Necromancer rolls forward past him. He stands by Kiyoshi and removes his mask, revealing Lucan.
Kiyoshi scoffs. ' This doesn't make us even.'
' We can argue about my punishment later.'
Both sides stand still, looking at each other.
Niika breaks the stalemate and pounces forward and down onto a lower branch. Lucan jumps down after her.
Kiyoshi rushes forward and engages the Necrolord.
~*~
' I won't kill you, Niika!' Lucan tells her.
Niika swings one of her blades at him, and he ducks.
' Whatever they did to you, I'm going to fix it!'
Niika raises her other blade, and it clashes with Lucan's sword.
They look at each other face to face.
' Niika, listen… there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you. I should have told you before but… I couldn’t.'
Niika slows down a bit. Her eyes start blinking.
' You need to learn how to swim.'
Lucan jumps forward and grabs Niika. Both of them fall off the walkway into the river below.
Lucan swims back to the surface and waits.
Suddenly, Niika emerges beside him.
' Lucan!' she shouts at him, still out of breath.
She lays down on her back on the shoreline and looks up at Lucan, and smiles for a brief moment, then sees Felora and the battle behind him.
Suddenly a bunch of undead and Necromancers surround them.
~*~
Kiyoshi and the Necrolord are fighting closer to the inner city now.
Kiyoshi lands a powerful blow on the Necrolord, which angers him.
The Necrolord spins around, and fires a Song, Aggroblast, at Kiyoshi.
' Ah!' Kiyoshi is hit and sent flying back.
Kiyoshi remains on the ground, but looks up at the Necrolord, now understanding the glowing red eyes.
' You're an Ardoni…'
The Necrolord removes his hood and mask, revealing the face of an Ardoni.
' Yes… yes, I was. My name was once Xan Voltaris.'
' You’re Voltaris…? But the Deathsinger was killed… are you still doing his bidding?'
' I once did, long ago. I was young, but observant during the… Great War. Yes, I watched as the Nether controlled hordes of undead, giving purpose to creatures we thought mindless. And when the Nether retreated… they left behind an army, one which I spent my entire life learning to lead.'
Kiyoshi staggers back up. ' And I have spent my entire life… training to defend Felden from monsters like you. And still I stand.'
Kiyoshi spins his halberd around again and re-engages the Necrolord with ferocity.
He raises his halberd and clashes it with the Necrolord's axe. The Necrolord kicks Kiyoshi back.
Kiyoshi raises his halberd again, but the Necrolord knocks it away.
Kiyoshi grabs his back up sword, and charges as the Necrolord. But the Necrolord slips and grabs Kiyoshi before stabbing his axe through Kiyoshi's chest.
Kiyoshi drops his sword and falls onto his knees.
He looks up at Felora as the Necrolord walks behind him.
' Look out there, Kiyoshi… look at Felora. You have failed your kingdom. You are no longer standing, and Felden has fallen.'
Kiyoshi squints in pain.
The Necrolord picks up Kiyoshi’s fallen sword and looks at it, then stabs it into Kiyoshi’s back.
Kiyoshi flinches in pain.
The Necrolord walks off as Kiyoshi collapses forward.
~*~
At the forest floor, Niika and Lucan watch as Kiyoshi’s body falls over the walkway.
' Dad!' Niika screams. Tears flow out of her eyes, and Lucan reaches out his hands, which are tied, to her. Her hands are tied as well, but she holds his hands and leans on Lucan, crying.
The officials are taken forward, as they struggle to be free.
' Unhand me, villians!'
' You can’t enslave us. We’re official council members of Felden.'
The Necrolord walks up to them.
' There is no more… Felden.'
The Necrolord raises his staff and aims it towards the Officials. The undead swarm and kill the officials.
The Necrolord walks over to Lucan and Niika next. Niika is still crying over her father's death.
' And you two. I could use the powers of the Wither and… indoctrinate you again, but I think my army is large enough as it is.'
The Necrolord raises his staff, and points it towards Lucan and Niika. They tighten their grip on each other's hand and close their eyes.
Nothing happens.
They open their eyes. The Necrolord is still holding his staff forward, but the zombies have not moved. He turns around.
On top of the hill a Wither floats, with Pythus and the Angel of Death beneath.
~*~
Pythus walks forward. ' You’ve done a fantastic job pretending to be king of the undead. What is it they call you? The “Necrolord?”'
The Angel of Death lands behind the Necrolord, preventing him from walking away. The Necrolord begins to look a bit worried.
' I, Pythus, King of the Nether, will be resuming control of the undead in my conquest of the Overworld. I would like to thank you, however, for starting my work for me.
The undead are distracted, and the Necrolord, Angel of Death, and Pythus are busy with each other. Lucan fidgets with the rope and loosens the it, releasing his hands. He untied Niika's as well, and takes her hand.
' Come on!'
Niika looks over at where her father had fallen one last time, and they both run out of the area.
'Oh, but I have plans…' the Necrolord tells Pythus. 'Felden is just the beginning. After a hundred years of preparing, I am not about to stand aside for the army that broke our alliance and betrayed us during the Great War.'
' The alliance has been re-formed. Once more we shall bring war to Ardonia, to the Enderknights, and every other enemy that dare stand in our way. But first, the Necromancers must be eliminated.'
Pythus draws his massive battle axe, the Necrolord draws his axe as well.
The Necrolord rushes forward, and swings his axe at Pythus. Pythus backs up before swinging his axe. The Necrolord backflips, dodging the axe, and rolls towards Pythus before swinging his axe at his feet. Pythus leaps, avoiding the axe, and clashes his axe with the Necrolord's. Pythus pushes the Necrolord back, and the Necrolord loses his balance. Pythus kicks the Necrolord, knocking him to the ground.
' After all that time… you never learned the truth of the undead… they can’t be controlled, they can only be guided.'
Pythus gestures to the Wither still floating nearby. The Wither makes a noise, and the undead converge on the Necrolord.
' No, no!' the Necrolord's screams can be heard throughout all of Felden.
Lucan and Niika turn around, but soon turn back the opposite direction and continue running.