Twilightfall

by Viktor Zólyomi

  Or so we thought! For the very man who created the Brotherhood, who was long thought dead, has returned. The so-called Dreamer, the cursed Voi'Shek, the wretched slime! He has returned. He seeks to enslave us once more! He has returned, because he once again desires to have our kind as his slaves.

  I say, that he will not have what he wants! I say, that today, we make him pay for the eons of servitude that our people had to suffer because of him. I say, that today, we rip his heart out and set it ablaze! I say, that today, we end his worthless life, and crush the final remnants of the cursed Brotherhood once and for all!'

  She pauses, and the dragons stand on their hind legs and roar aloud, resounding like thunder.

  `Yes, my kin!' she continues. `On this night, the Dreamer will fall! But beware! You were not there, you never knew his power. I was there... I saw it, I witnessed it. Voi'Shek has untold power! We must do whatever we have to to destroy him, using whatever means necessary.

  You have seen the wicked creatures of darkness. They will be our secret weapon against the Dreamer. Some of us will fall, but those of us that live to see the victory will always remember them as heroic warriors that died for the cause of dragon-kind! We will forever remember them. Even as we must endure the memories of what had to be done with their bodies.

  For these dark creatures will raise the bodies of our fallen as mindless undead, and send them against our great enemy. Yes, this is sad. But it is necessary! A sacrifice that we must bring in order to defeat Voi'Shek...

  But know this, my kin! Voi'Shek forces us to such drastic measures, and for this, we will make him pay tenfold! When we kill him, we will set an example of him. His corpse will suffer tenfold of what the bodies of our fallen warriors must endure. This, I promise you!

  Let us now march forth, my kin! Let us take final vengeance upon the cursed magician known as Voi'Shek! Let us destroy him once and for all!'

  As she finishes her speech, the dragons roar in unison, and her slave troops arise and raise their weapons to the sky, along with the half-dragons.

  She jumps up from the ground and flaps her wings. She makes a circle high in the sky, and then flies through the Teleport Gate. As she vanishes, her half-dragon mages start to follow.

  `Come, Flora!' I exclaim. `Let us join them! Soon, Voi'Shek will learn... that he just fucked with the wrong black magician!'

  Dangerous artifact

  Keehmor Keep, present day (3 hours before Twilightfall)

  Master Voi'Shek wants to see me.

  Master Voi'Shek wants to see me...

  Oh dear... Does he want to kill me? He has the artifact back, does he still think he needs me?

  Oh dear... He was very angry when I told him that the amulet had been stolen...

  *

  It was roughly a year ago. I came back to Arghard after I realized that the vampire woman had brought it back here. The moment I arrived, I sensed the unmistakable presence of my Master. The mighty Voi'Shek had returned!

  I was thrilled! Enthusiastic, even! I was curious where he'd been for so long. I sought him out. I found him somewhere in Draconia, in a ruin of one of our old fortresses. Where else would he be, of course?

  Well, when I saw him, I could still barely believe it was him. But it was! It sure as Hell was!

  I just stared at him for at least a full minute with my jaws dropped, wearing an it really is you expression on my face. But my Master got bored with it after a while.

  `Drabangar? Is that you?'

  `Yes, Master Voi'Shek!'

  `Wipe that dumb look off your face, will you?'

  `Of course, Master Voi'Shek... I am merely surprised to see you. Where have you been so long? News of your disappearance reached all the way to me in Kh'Tal, but I knew nothing of the reasons and the details. What happened?'

  `I was betrayed.' he told me, rubbing his forehead.

  `Betrayed?! That is outrageous! By whom?'

  `Members of the Brotherhood. Greedy fools who thought that they could improve the Sphere of Power.'

  `Ah, I have heard that the Sphere was destroyed. Are you saying it was destroyed because they tried to increase its power?'

  `Yes. They paid the price of their treason with their lives. But they deserved worse. I wish I could bring them back to life, and punish them more!'

  `Well, maybe we could enlist the aid of a black magician to bring them back in some undead form and...'

  `No. It's not worth the effort. There are more important things for me to do. Now tell me... Why are you here? Why aren't you in Kh'Tal?'

  `Well...'

  I was hesitating to tell him the bad news. The bringer of bad news usually ends up with his head on a pike. I didn't want my head on a pike. It's not like I have a problem with heads on pikes, but I don't like the idea of my head on a pike. Oh, I would have loved to see the vampire woman's head on a pike, but not my own.

  `I'm waiting, Drabangar!'

  `Yes, yes... Well... It's kind of like this... Well...'

  `Well?!'

  `The amulet's been stolen.' I told him, very quickly.

  I expected he'd react swiftly and harshly, but he just stared blankly in front of himself, and then sat down.

  `How do you explain that, Drabangar?' he asked, slowly.

  `It was a half-demon! It was not just some half-demon, it was a tough half-demon. His name was Jason Vogan. He...'

  Here, Voi'Shek raised his head.

  `What did you say? Jason Vogan?'

  `Yes. A name which means...'

  `I know what it means. You must get it back from him!'

  `He no longer has it. He's dead, too!'

  `Dead, you say?'

  `Yes. He was a spawn of Th'Mesh. He actually killed his father, it seems. Well, I am not certain, but many signs point to it that Th'Mesh is dead, and I am very certain that Jason was his child.'

  `Th'Mesh is dead, that is correct. The half-demon that stole the amulet was the one who killed him, you say?'

  `I am not fully certain, but...'

  `Alright. This is most unexpected. But I shall worry about it later. Where is the amulet now?'

  `He passed it on to a vampire woman. She has it. She is here. In Arghard. That's why I came back. To track her down. To wrest the amulet from her dead hands and resume my duties as guardian of the amulet, the task you bestowed upon me thousands of years ago.'

  `Yes. You've done your duty well for thousands of years, it seems. Or has it been stolen before?'

  `No, Master Voi'Shek! This was the first time.'

  `Regardless, you were tasked with guarding it for eternity, not just for a few thousand years!' he said, harshly. `If I didn't need you to find it and bring it back, I'd kill you for your failure!'

  `Oh dear... Please don't kill me, Master Voi'Shek! Please! I'll do anything!'

  `Quit whining! I already told you I wouldn't kill you. Unfortunately I need you. You made a mistake. You need to fix it.'

  `Yes, of course, Master Voi'Shek. I will fix myself. I mean, will it myself. I mean, I will fix it myself!'

  `Just go! Find the amulet! Do not even try contacting me until you have it! I do not want to see your face until you have it back. Do not fail in retrieving it! You know how dangerous the artifact sealed inside the amulet is...'

  *

  I nodded, and left. I went in search of the amulet.

  It was quite a chore to get it back. That vampire woman was tough to hunt down. In the end I got her. Now, Master Voi'Shek has the artifact. And he called for me. He called for me...

  Oh dear...

  `You called, Master Voi'Shek?' I ask, as I enter his chamber.

  `Indeed. Step inside, Drabangar! We have to talk.' he says. I walk closer, and he continues.

  `I have been thinking. It was wrong of me to have sent you to Kh'Tal to guard the amulet there.'

  Oh dear... He is going to kill me...

  `Stop trembling! I want you to do something tonight, it is urgent and I need you to be focused.' he says.

&nbs
p; `Of course, Master Voi'Shek...'

  `Good. As I said, it was wrong of me to have sent you there. It was wrong of me to assume that we could live forever and guard this world forever. Try as we may, our time to pass on to the Afterlife may yet come. The treason I was subjected to and the thievery you were subjected to prove that. For all the power we have gained, we are still mortal, and like any mortal, we, too, can fail. We cannot risk that we fail to safeguard an artifact that could very well destroy the Multiverse. We never should have taken that risk.'

  `Are you saying, that...'

  `That we must destroy the artifact, yes.'

  `But...'

  `I know the risk well enough. It was I, who explained that to you so long ago, after all. However, I think we can destroy it without destroying Arghard in the process.'

  `How?'

  `You must go to Ighttur-wor. That is where the artifact was meant to be used by those who created it, and the magics of that place make it the one place in Arghard where we can destroy the artifact without destroying Arghard itself. We must still take care however. A slight mistake and our world is doomed. You know well what risk accompanies the manipulation of the artifact.

  Go! Explore Ighttur-wor, kill anyone and anything you encounter there, and create guardians to ensure that we will not be interrupted. Return here when you are done. I will be waiting for you here. I shall guard the artifact in this place until you return. It is well protected, no-one can break through the Keep's defenses. It is best safeguarded while you prepare Ighttur-wor for us.'

  `As you will, Master Voi'Shek!'

  `Good. Take your time as needed, but do not tarry too long. The sooner we destroy the artifact, the sooner we can begin rebuilding what we had millennia ago. After we destroy the artifact, we will reconstruct the Sphere of Power, and use it to enslave the dragons once again. With them in our power, the Draconian Brotherhood will once again reign supreme, standing guard over this world. This time, I will not make the mistake of misplacing my trust. You and I alone will care for the Sphere of Power. No-one else. Those that we allow into the Brotherhood shall never even see it. I will not allow the Brotherhood to fall a second time...

  But that is for the future. For now, we must focus on destroying the artifact. Go! Prepare Ighttur-wor for us! And do not fail me this time!'

  Siege

  Near Keehmor Keep, present day (2 hours before Twilightfall)

  The Teleport Gate closes behind Mel's troops, and her army takes up a battle formation before the Keep. The lessers march forth up front, while the half-dragons follow behind them. The dragons approach the Keep from the air, lead by Mel' herself. Just ahead, Keehmor Keep awaits her army in all its glory, and all its madness.

  From the very looks of it, one can tell that it was the construction of no sane man. The original Keep was like any other castle, but since Danny Boy rebuilt it some years ago, it looks like the work of a mad architect. The only thing conventional about it is the courtyard littered with various war machines and bastions, and the walls surrounding it. The Keep itself however is surreal. There is a large main entrance, but it leads to a very narrow little bastion of sorts. Atop this bastion, stands the rest of the Keep. It widens significantly upwards, and then splits into various thin towers, which are connected by narrow corridors. The largest, tallest tower is on the far left. It's hard to believe that such a wide and asymmetric construction could stand on such a narrow bastion without collapsing. But such is Danny Boy's mind as of late. His magic keeps the castle together in this state. I must admit, it's pretty damn unique...

  As Mel's army approaches the Keep, some things begin to move in the courtyard. Bastions start to stir, catapult machines slowly come alive, several surreal war machines start to move. Their contours become blurred, and slowly they shapeshift. A few moments later, the various war machines, bastions, and crossbow towers vanish, and gigantic golems stand in their place instead. The alter golems.

  So it begins. The siege. The battle. The grandest showdown Draconia has seen in recent years.

  A surreal sight for those that have never seen or heard of the alter golems. On one side, you have Mel's dragons flying high above and swooping down every now and then to breathe flames on their opponents, as well as Mel's thousand-or-so troops of lessers, and a couple hundred half-dragons, including some mages far in the back who cast all sorts of spells every now and then. On the other side, you have a couple dozen shapeshifting golems. Gigantic figures. Each of them stands at least thirty, if not forty feet tall. They seem like they are carved from stone, yet they move insanely fast. They strike with tremendous force. They walk forth and pick up the soldiers of Mel's army and toss them to the ground. They strike at them with their hard stone fists and crush them. Some of the golems change into their alternate forms every now and then, and make use of the abilities of these forms. Various war machines, such as catapults and ballistae, and some more surreal things, like massive stone bulls that can charge into Mel's troops with terrifying strength and impact, or flying stone gargoyles that can swoop down from the air and cause havoc among Mel's troops.

  Of the dozens of alter golems, there are three that stand out. I am still amazed when I see those three. The sentient golems.

  The one that keeps shapeshifting into a large wheel with spikes and keeps rolling into Mel's troops is Trenz. He's a silent sort for being sentient, but he's a tough son of a bitch. Then, the massive guy that stands up front and pounds on Mel's minions with his fists is called Welker. A real badass, not somebody you wanna fuck with. The one up in the air, the one that likes shapeshifting into a gigantic stone eagle and rip into Mel's forces from above, that's Latta. He's a real bigmouth and he always argues with Welker for some reason. I don't know why they're bickering so much. But he's still a great warrior, he can raise Hell and whoop ass just as much as the other two.

  These three cause the most devastation among Mel's troops. But the fight still progresses relatively slowly, because Mel's half-dragon mages in the back continuously cast protective spells on her troops, to help them survive the onslaught of the golems longer.

  Suddenly, Latta engages in a brutal fight high above with one of the dragons. He changes into golem shape in mid air and sits on the dragon's back. He holds on to the dragon with his legs, and proceeds to rip into the wings of the wyrm. Moments later, the dragon starts to fall down with tattered wings. Latta jumps off and changes into his stone eagle shape, then flies off to fight another foe. The dragon falls down with a tremendous impact, crushing dozens of Mel's own troops. Trenz suddenly charges towards him in his spiked wheel shape, and runs over him, then rolls further to crush more of Mel's soldiers. The dragon slowly stands up, bleeding from a thousand wounds. He tries to walk back, but a moment later a large shadow looms over him, as Welker approaches him. Welker grabs the dragon's neck with both of his massive hands and with a loud, vicious war cry he begins to strangle him. The dragon writhes in his grasp and tries to break loose, but it's no use. Not much later, the dragon falls silent and his limbs go limp, and Welker laughs victoriously. He raises the lifeless body of the dragon high above his head, and then tosses him into the middle of Mel's troops. The dragon's corpse crushes at least another dozen of her minions.

  Mel' herself has so far been flying high above and, like the rest of the dragons, just swooped down and enveloped the golems in flames every now and then, keeping her distance from the massive fists of the golems.

  As she witnesses the death of one of her dragons, she suddenly lets out and angry cry, and then swoops down and targets Welker. But Welker strikes towards her with his massive fists and she barely manages to avoid them. She flies up, then down again and she targets one of the lesser alter golems. She grabs him by the arms and drags him high above, then begins fighting the golem in mid air. He struggles, but Mel' proves to be stronger, perhaps empowered by rage. She breathes fire into the golem's face, and then rips into him with her massive jaws. Her teeth actually manage to rip pieces out of the stone body of
the golem, and a while later she bites on his head. She rips it off and spits it out, then she releases the golem and lets his body fall to the ground.

  `Destroy them all!' she cries out, and then she makes a large circle high in the sky and swoops down and breathes fire onto the battle field. Then she flies to the back and lands behind her mages, not far from me. Her contours become blurred, and she slowly changes her shape. She assumes her human form, and approaches me.

  `What's up, Mel'? Tired?' I ask her, smiling.

  `Just shut up. I need to conserve my strength for Voi'Shek! What about you? Why aren't you doing anything? Use your black magic and destroy the golems!'

  `Like you, I, too, must conserve my strength for Voi'Shek. How many troops have you lost so far?'

  `About a hundred lessers, and one of my dragons.'

  `Time to use the chaos wraiths. Command them to raise the dead!'

  `Fine...' she says, and she turns to the chaos wraiths standing silently in the far back, behind the half-dragon mages.

  `Raise my fallen warriors, you abominations! I command you! Raise them and command them into battle against my enemies!'

  The chaos wraiths silently raise their arms towards the battlefield and their palms and eyes begin to glow in an eerie, purplish light. Moments later, some of the corpses begin to stir on the ground.

  A minute passes, maybe two, and the fallen warriors start standing up from the ground. Their eyes are empty, they are no more than mindless zombies, but they can move and fight just as they could before they were dead. The chaos wraiths have done their job well. A bit further away, the corpse of the fallen dragon begins to stir. Another minute later, he arises. He stretches his tattered wings, and flaps them. His eyes are just as empty as the eyes of Mel's undead soldiers. He cries out with a deep, lifeless voice. Then, he jumps up from the ground and flaps his tattered wings, and begins to circle around the battlefield.

  `There, you see, Mel'? Your army is as strong as it was when we got here. In fact, stronger!' I exclaim. `Now order them to attack!'