Heroes
Page 3
time I am foiled. Meanwhile, your high council sends small teams of assassins every so often. None of them return. Every so often, larger armies are sent in for skirmishes. Acceptable?” he waited until Arkheld nodded, popping a grape into his mouth. He felt filled with rage, for he was helpless in this situation. The hate in him was almost at a breaking point, yet he held it back with a soldier’s discipline. Eat, he urged himself as he fought back the need to pull Holy Crusader out and throw it across the hall at his sworn enemy. To think the highest Knight of Ergen’s order would be reduced to this...
Oblicious to this struggle, Lahda carried on. “Now, what you do not know. First, I am bound to this chamber until the entire world is conquered,” all three looked up at that, stunned. They had never known. They doubted anyone knew from outside the barrier, for there was much speculation about why the demon king, who has eluded death for a hundred years, stayed where he was. Some had even concluded that he may not exist at all, despite contrary evidence. But to think that he was trapped... Arkheld’s mind went through the possibilities. “I cannot go personally to the barrier and shatter it to pieces with force. I must rely on specialized spell weavers, and they only when the barrier weakens, once per decade. Secondly, and this may come as a shock to you, I have failed at my attempts every single time on purpose. It is not yet time for me to take over the world and regain my freedom. One may wonder why anyone in their right mind would do that, after being imprisoned for as long as I have been. The answer is simple, and it lies in the nature of this war between our races.” The three cast glances to one another, and Jarlex smiled in what Arkheld assumed was a confused manner. “The goodly folk wish to exterminate us. We, however, do not wish you all gone from this world. My ultimate goal is freedom. The world would be boring with only blood thirsty demons, not true?” At that, the demon lord paused to drink from a goblet he had in his hand, sighing in pleasure and ignoring the three adventurers’ splutters. Jarlex began to speak loudly in objection, no doubt to tell the coal black deceiver what he thought of him, but Lahda silenced him with a raised finger and a knowing smile. “I’m not done, but if you think about what I said for a second you’ll know it to be true. You know our military might. Why did I not have them guard the spell breakers?” he gave the three time to consider his words, and Arkheld felt even more frustrated than before. It fit, damn him! Next to him, the other two showed similar signs of anger, and the knight felt glad that he had brought no fools along, at least. Speaking of fools...
“But... why!” wondered Jarlex loudly, and Lahda smiled. “Ah, dear drow, because my demon forging skills are not yet advanced enough. If I take down the barrier now, demons would raze the world. My goal is to create intelligent sentient demons, break down the barrier, take the world... and then allow everyone to live under a single kingdom. Certainly, things will be different, but different races have coexisted before, present company is proof of that. I’ll play no part in it. Someone other than me will be king, and I shall be free to wander this beautiful world for the first time in, well, forever!” There was real hunger in the demon king’s eyes. Touring Cielta after being chosen, Arkheld had seen beggars starving, kneeling in the streets for bread. However, this hunger in the demon lord’s eyes overshadowed everything he’d ever seen.
Lahda caught himself after a second and leaned back in his black throne, scratching at one of his horns absently as he spoke. “Those are my plans. To achieve them, I allow the worthy to reach me. I use you in my research in order to make the demons smarter. I don’t really care if you believe me. Though I swear it to be true, there have been many before you along the years who have lived denial. The important thing is this: the crystal goblets before you have a potion in them that will bring you back to full health, as a sign of good faith. When you are healed, you may choose to stay in this castle and live the rest of your lives with me, in order to help with my research. You will be safe and comfortable, and I will only need to inspect some of your memories occasionally in order to better model a demon’s mind. If you choose to go against me, I will destroy all of you and do what I can with your corpses.” He said it so matter- of-factly that Arkheld’s hair stood on edge. He felt trapped in Lahda’s gaze, much like mouse before serpent. Then Lahda yawned, adding, “And don’t think the potions are poison. If I wanted you dead I could have called in some demons strong enough to enter the doorway without dying. Interesting that there’s three of you this time though.” His words were uttered absentmindedly.
Arkheld’s mind whirled, weighing in a thousand things with the speed of a tactician. He had heard far too much for him to process, but the reality of his situation was clear and heavy. There had no time to process anything, and looking towards his companions breathed new determination into the knight. The three gave each other wry grins, and toasted each other. The drained their glasses as one. “Friends,” Arkheld announced as he felt his strength return and his wounds heal and his lord’s song join his soul like a lover, “What say you?”
the two smiled and Jarlex said, “What you do, we do. We are already far gone. I would see my fair Benzuberren one final time, but I suppose the Everdream will do if you so choose...my leader.” Arkheld’s throat clenched with pride as Seida purred his agreement. He had never even seen Jarlex’s home, nor Seida’s. Far away, Lahda stood witness, watching the three with a mask of innocent curiosity, like a child watching the sunrise for the first time. Still, he looked ready to accept either choice from Arkheld. The knight stood, weighing his choices as he rose to his full height. Then he glimpsed something and smiled broadly from within his helmet. It seems the choice was taken from his hand after all.
Arkheld unsheathed his Holy Crusader and roared defiance at the demon lord as a behemoth of metal and lightning crashed through the window behind the throne, ridden by none other than Mekt the mechamancer. The dwarf screamed, his eyes flashing through his goggles as electricity danced between him and his metallic creation. Simultaneously all three readied themselves. Song filled the knight with light, bone rose from the ground at the necromancer’s bidding, and the ranger aimed his bow, afterimages appaearing from his speed.
The next instant, Mekt’s head soared through the air, severed cleanly faster than Arkheld could follow with his eyes. Before it or the metal behemoth’s parts could hit the ground in a mess of iron and gore, Seida screamed and flitted with inhuman speed towards Lahda. He was stopped dead by the tip of the demon’s tail stabbing straight through his chest. Blood splattered against the wall behind him as the ranger tried to pull himself along the tail, arrow clenched in one hand like a dagger. The next second he sagged and was dropped onto the smooth floor. Arkheld flew into a fit of rage, pulling power into him as he began to run towards his sworn enemy, but a rattle behind him drew his attention. Looking back, he saw his last friend lying on the floor amongst a heap of his undead creations, a black sphere of darkness floating above them. The knight had to tear his eyes away from the sight, for once proud coal skin was now ashen like bleached bone. Then he turned around and there stood Lahda an inch away, not a drop of blood on his beautiful figure. A scream unleashed itself as Arkheld thrust and slashed and stabbed with as much strength as he could bring from his god, and still Holy Crusade found no purchase. He started to swing so hard that his own bones cracked and blood flowed down onto a puddle at his feet, and still Lahda dodged calmly. At long last, with his mind his final song spent the knight fell to his knees with a clang. Still, he was defiant to the last, and roared through torn vocal chords, “Justice always wins!”
He felt like a protesting child.
“Of course it does,” rang the beautiful black voice. Looking up, Arkheld saw Lahda conjure an axe of night out of thin air as he raised his arm with a finishing blow. To his horror Arkheld saw nothing but pity in the demon king’s eyes.
“Those who win become Justice.”
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