Chapter 13: The Plan Unveiled

I lay on the earthen floor of my sire’s haven trying to find my wits about me. Stars swirled about my head and threatened to take over, as the darkness began to consume me. I could barely make out sounds around me, but I was certain I heard three different sets of footsteps. I raised myself up to one elbow and tried to make my way up to a sitting position when a large ominous foot crushed my chest and shoved me back down to the floor. Two different sets of feet stopped moving next to either side of my head while the large foot remained crushing my sternum. I then heard the voice of my creator, Dante. “Aerol, Aerol, Aerol. Why have you decided to return here? There was still unfinished work for you to do.” I tried to grab at the foot that was smashing me into the ground, every time I did my hands just went right through the appendage. Dante spoke again, “At least you had the sense enough to wield Harbinger once again.” My sire leaned down close to my face and continued, “Without it, all would be lost. Our plans to rid the world of Zehan and Auhsez would have failed.” I struggled to open my mouth to speak, but I did manage to mumble a few words. “Wha…what are…y…you…talk…about?” I said painfully. Dante let out a laugh that I could never remember hearing him do before and said, “We are so fed up with all of the lies of the Gods that we are going to with the current regime of with…a new one.” I tried to lift my head to get closer to Dante only to have it fall right back to the floor again due to the crushing pain that the large foot was putting on not only my chest, but my entire body as well. “Wh…why?” I asked. “Why…me?” Dante leaned in even closer and said, “Because Harbinger was only destined to be wielded by two people, and the first one failed miserably.” I stopped wasting my energy on trying to get up, and began to focus my body on healing itself. “You see Aerol, Zeshua foreseen you as the wielder of the blade known as Revelation. That was the blade that I gave you when you journeyed out to avenge your parents’ death.” He continued with a much lower voice, “But the blade that you have in your hands right now is the new Harbinger. Better than the first, and able to help you accomplish your tasks without much effort.” I just laid there looking at my sire, wondering what he had become. He had been such a kind and gentle person, for a Vampire. “The weapon that you now wield,” Dante said, “is a hybrid of sorts. It is the blade that will be able to defeat that which was created.” My eyes began to roll in to the back of my head as I tried to decipher the cryptic riddle that Dante had just set before me. I had decided that I did not care at the moment. I had more important things on my mind. For the first time in over a month, I was hungry. I needed to feed. My body began to slip into torpor as I felt the enormous foot finally lift itself off of my body. I tried one last time to sit up when I seen a balled up fist fly at my mouth.

The first hit landed like a rock. I fell back to the floor and before I could grab for my mouth the second hit landed. The third and fourth hits landed very soon after. I tried to channel my abilities as a Druid before the kicks began to land themselves on my ribs. I was too weak to make the transformation. Dante’s boots slammed into my ribs, then soon after his fist hit my abdomen with such force that I let out what I thought was my last breath I would ever have. The next boot that I felt hit my left side was something I had never thought I would feel. The large foot that had previously been crushing the unlife out of me connected to my ribs with a loud boom. The pain that I felt next was so excruciating that I felt as though a thousand tortured souls were traveling through my entire body. Attacking my insides at every turn they made. I was then grabbed underneath each arm and brought to my feet, only to be face to face with the Lord of Evil. Zeshua. I still could not see the face that was inside the hooded robe, but I knew what was there. Pure evil and hatred. I glanced over to my right to see my sire who had just betrayed me. Then I looked over to my left and seen a younger man whom I had never seen before. His eyes seemed so old though, so familiar. As if I had stared into those eyes before. His face, from his nose down was covered by a veil hiding his face. But now there was not time to worry about who he was. I coughed up a bit of blood and said, “What do you want from me Zeshua?” It seemed as though an eternity had passed before he spoke. “Want?” he said. “Want, Aerol? Why, I just want to help you. You know that. It is all I have ever wanted. Why, just a few months ago I gave you the most powerful weapon in all the land so you could fulfill your vow.” Dante then spoke, “All we want from you now Aerol is to stay here in torpor so we can kill the Vampire King.” “DANTE!” Zeshua shouted. My ears rang as badly as they ever had before. “You will speak no more of what I have asked you to do. Is that understood?” Dante then lowered his head and said, “Yes, my master.” The Lord of Evil let then released me from his grasp and took a step back. “Now Dante, my servant, and my newest follower, Asher Withoer, you will see what I can do to you should you choose to disobey me, or ever betray me.” I watched in paralyzed horror as Zeshua began to punch me in the face so fast and so hard I felt every bone shatter in a hundred different pieces. He then grabbed me by my throat and lifted me off the ground with the greatest of ease and said, “You will not die. You cannot die. Your destiny is to destroy the one they call The Redeemer.” The evil god then placed his opened hand on my chest. He waited for just a moment before he tore my flesh from my body right through me. He removed his hand, leaving a hole in my chest and my back, and then he just dropped me.

I fell to the floor in a heap of death. I knew that I was close to it as well. Zeshua stepped over me and began to exit the dungeon and said, “Come my children, we have much work to do. Dante, you are to come with me. Asher, you have your orders.” The three of them stalked out to the outside and left me there to die. I tried to calm myself by thinking of my friends. Thresh and Oases, the Shaman, and more specifically Cirania. I could almost see her waiting for me in the resting place that Gaia had created for us. Just as I was about to pass into the afterlife, I heard footsteps on the stairs of the dungeon, then someone roll me over to my back. I focused my eyes as best as my current state would allow me too. I could not believe what I was seeing. I fought with every ounce of energy I could and said, “Asher? I thought…” This new enemy began patting down my chest, and pockets to my clothes. “Do not speak right now Aerol. I am a friend, and my name is not Asher. That is all you need to know.” He continued his furious search of my clothes and pockets. “Where is it? Where is it Aerol?” he yelled. “Where is the amulet you took from the Orc Mage?” I focused once more, all of the energy I had left and replied, “Satchel.” My new friend then jumped up and ran out of the dungeon, leaving me once again to die.

I slipped into torpor and did not dream. Nor did I have any thoughts. I just laid there, waiting for death to come and take me away on its white horse. I was ready to see my Cirania once more, to see my Mother and Father once again. I was ready to see my god, my sweet Gaia.

I had no idea how much time had passed by when I finally opened my eyes, and I did not care. All I cared about was the pain that I was enduring as my body began to heal itself. “You have a magnificent colt out there Aerol. He is truly not from this world.” I looked around and seen that it was Asher who was sitting next to me. I clutched at the wound on my chest as my body began to close the wound that was left by Zeshua. In pain I said, “Thank you for your help, my friend. And yes, Empyreal is a wonderful companion.” My mind began swirling with questions, “Why the amulet?” I said. Asher stood up and extended a hand to help me stand and said, “I know quite a bit about you my friend. More than I would like to know in fact.” I grabbed Asher’s hand and he helped me to my feet. “What does it do?” I said. “Well,” Asher said, “from my understanding it keeps you fed, so to speak. It keeps you from having to feed, ever. As long as you are near it, or wearing it you will never have to feed.” Asher began walking toward the steps of the dungeon, “I have to leave now. I have work to do in other places.” I began making my way to where Harbinger rested on the floor, “Why did you not attack me?” I said. Asher stopped where he was and turned his head back to look at me. “Because I chose not to, you did nothing wrong to me. So I chose not to attack you.” “Well,” I said, “I appreciate that.” I reached down to pick up my weapon and heard Asher sprint away from the dungeon, and then undoubtedly from these lands as well. I was once again alone. All I had was Empyreal, and Harbinger. I raised the cursed weapon at eye level and said, “You have ruined my entire life Harbinger. I will not do your bidding. However I will use you. I will use you to kill Zeshua before his plan can come to fruition. I will also use you to kill Dante if I have to, to keep him from making a bigger mistake than I did. You may fuel my anger, and you may have ways of controlling me. But I have something that you don’t. I have free will, and I will beat you.” I lowered the weapon into the sheath that hung from my left hip and made my way out of the dungeon. Harbinger vibrated and hummed in disapproval as I did. I found Empyreal waiting on me at the top of the steps. I walked over to him and petted his snout. “Was it okay that Asher rode you my friend?” The young colt nodded in approval. I scratched him between the ears and said, “That is good.” I climbed on to his back and spurred him in his hind quarter to get him moving. “Let’s go bury Cirania, then I’m going to the Land of the Kings. I have a sire to kill.”