Author's Note: Sex makes its return to the series with this chapter. All characters are over the age of 18. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 23: A New Goal
In the distant past, two armies stood across from each other. One army consisted of an alliance between humans and elves, the other was a massive group of monsters and demons of various shapes and sizes. The demon leader was a fourteen-foot-tall centaur-like creature with pitch black skin all around. It had glowing yellow eyes, long white hair, red horns on its head, and off-white teeth that were on the outside of its mouth. There were four arms on its torso holding red blades in each hand. The demon stood on four feline legs with large sharp claws protruding from between each toe. Its tail was thick but narrowed closer to the tip.
A young wizard stepped forth and addressed the beast in front of him. "I am Marlon, one of the leaders of the 'United Gashuan Alliance'! State your name, foul beast!"
The leader of the demon army sneered, speaking with a deep raspy voice and a slight lisp, louder and more monstrous than his future counterpart's. "I am Dred, King of the Underworld! So far, no one in your world has truly challenged us. But with as many of you as there are and based on the power I feel radiating from you, perhaps you will be the only entertainment we'll find here!"
"This dream again." Samora was observing. "These are Father's memories of when he originally fought Dred." The witch had seen this recurring dream many times since the merger between her mind and Marlon's, witnessing the events through his eyes. The creature in this dream was Dred in his true form. The two rushed into battle against while their armies clashed.
The dream showed fleeting moments from the battle that made one thing clear: Dred was a far more dangerous adversary in his original body. Marlon, though in his prime, fought an increasingly uphill battle. Even the wizard's most powerful holy magic attacks did minimal damage to the beast, his wounds healing instantly. Despite this, the young wizard was able to hold his own for several hours. However, though his strength waned, and he received injuries, Dred remained as fresh as he was when the fight started. The entire landscape around them was reshaped as the Demon King's mouth blasts flattened terrain, leveled hills, and reduced entire forests to ashes.
"Father's magic was unrivaled; any other opponent would have been obliterated within seconds! Yet, it still wasn't enough. The Dred we face today is nothing compared to the monster he once was." Samora commented.
"You should be proud, Marlon." Dred complemented his nemesis who was on the verge of defeat. "You kept up with me for the entire day whereas everyone died in less than a minute. However, you have reached your limit." The large demon raised one of his weapons. "I shall name this blade after you, the one that I will split you down the middle with. Goodbye, Wizard!"
Marlon held his staff out, paralyzing the Demon King. "I have no choice; killing you is clearly not an option, so there is only one way to defeat you now!!" Hooked white chains flew from his staff, digging into Dred's torso. The demon roared as the wizard tugged, slowly pulling his soul out of his body. He was trying to pull his entire soul out, but his strength was fading fast, only being able to pull the top half out. With sword in hand, he bifurcated Dred's soul at the waist, allowing it to be removed from his body. With the dominant half of his spirit removed, the creature's body collapsed lifelessly with a booming crash and dissolved into nothing.
"What... what have you done to me????" Dred screamed in shock and extreme anger over being reduced to a floating ghostly torso.
"I have won, no, Elistria has won! Your conquest of our world has failed!!!" Exhausted, Marlon used the last of his power to form a crystal around what remained of Dred, encapsulating him and shrinking to a size that fit into the palm that fit in the wizard's hand. With their leader gone, many of the surviving demons scattered to live out their lives, becoming the ancestors of the demons that lived in Gashua to the present. The dream skipped ahead days later to Marlon leaving the crystal behind in a cave, sealing the entrance with heavy stones.
"I have seen this many times now, but it never ceases to amaze me. I fear for us all if Dred ever regains his true form." Samora spoke as she watched. Suddenly, her dream changed to a scene she had never seen before. There was a city with tall buildings, all of them burning. Dred was in his original body, towering over a different opponent, both surrounded by the city in flames. This new foe was none other than Tiafell. The elf let out a battle cry and leapt into the air, clashing swords with the King of the Underworld.
"TIAFELL!!!!!" Samora screamed, sitting up in her bed. Panting heavily, she snapped back to reality and saw that she was in her bedroom in the tower. Her bare chest heaved from the terrifying image that awakened her. "By the gods, what was that? Please let that only be a dream, I never want to see Tiafell face that monster!!" She fell back onto her pillow, struggling to calm down.
"Of course that will never happen. Dred cannot regain his true body so long as he remains in our world, he can only regenerate up to what Father left him with. He would need to return to the Underworld, which is protected by an unbreakable barrier. But still, I cannot quell this anxiety in my heart." Samora put her arm over her eyes, her efforts to reassure herself falling short. "Tiafell must obtain this 'divine energy' soon, I get the feeling things are going to get much worse before they get better." She was not able to go back to sleep that night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fifteen days had passed since the harrowing Battle for Steelweld. Everyone was fully recovered, even Tiafell who was the most injured. Just after sunrise that morning, Samora went to visit Marlon's grave as she did every day. There was a new headstone to mark the legendary wizard's final resting place. It read:
"Here lies Marlon,
Gashua's Hero,
Wise Teacher,
And Beloved Father."
"Good morning, Father, Erafell." Samora knelt before their graves. "I hope you two have been catching up. Everyone is doing well; their wounds are healed, and they've resumed their training already. I'm going to give them today to rest, and then I'll send them to Janazheim tomorrow morning to meet with King Escandar. I need to stay behind with Trista so I can finish her treatment, it should be over the day after tomorrow."
She sighed deeply. "I miss you both so much, but I can't keep moping around. The time has come for me to be the leader those young men and women need." The witch stood. "Plus, I have my own job to do. I must decipher that book in the Royal Library and learn everything we need to destroy Dred. Rest and watch us, we are going to put an end to all of this once and for all! I will check in with you two later, until then." She returned to the tower to make breakfast for the others. After finishing, she was setting the table when the others arrived.
"Ah, good morning, everyone!" She greeted them.
"'Morning." Cirris yawned.
"Haven't you slept enough?" Nadia shook her head.
"You and Mirya wore me out last night!" He groaned, Nadia and Mirya grinned at each other and high-fived.
"Well, I'm happy that you are all back to normal, truly." Samora wasn't lying, all of them had been gloomy since returning to the tower. But as they rested and recovered, their spirits lifted. Her eyes lingered on Tiafell for a moment, thinking back on the vision she saw involving him and Dred's original form.
"Breakfast looks incredible as always, Miss Samora." Brion complimented her.
"You, Mirya, and Tiafell are so polite! The others could learn a thing or two from you." The witch glanced at Nadia and Cirris, then to Kanah, who was greedily shoveling food into her mouth, stopping only to belch loudly. "Anyway, after I take Trista's food to her, there is something I must discuss with you all."
"She will be able to leave her room and join us in two days, right?" Tiafell inquired, eagerly awaiting a positive response.
"Yes, her treatment will be complete then, but she won't be joining you. All of you are going on a trip tomorrow. I will explain when I come back, I won't be long."
