(Part 2/3)
He was in deep concentration, his eyes closed tightly and his arms spread out wide like a bird in mid flight. The broad shouldered, young yamato mage was dressed in a colorful robe of red and white colors, and he was standing inside a magic circle that was surrounded by special, glittering runes.
He wore no pointy hat like other mages tended to do, rather he wore a small silver crown which had his name written inside sparkling gems that adorned the front end of the crown. Kenji Khor was his name, the teenage mage barely was eighteen years old but already knew most of the mystic arts. So advanced had he become in his magical studies at an early age that he had left the Flenceburg Sorcery Academy in order to construct his own Citadel of magic out in the western parts of the continent of Midgard near a poor village known as Villnore. He had many students learning under his wing, under his care, yet Kenji cared nothing about them at all. One day, he knew they would all become helpful to him in some way, so basically they were all just being grown for later use.
It was a dark and tempestuous night, Kenji was uttering his undecipherable chants as fast as he could, for he knew time was of the essence. Last night, his citadel had suffered an unsuspected attack. A group of enemies that he knew he had made a while back had unleashed several creatures from the abyss right outside his citadel. The monsters had been able to penetrate his magical defenses and had killed many of his students, who had been no match for the ferocious creatures of the underdark. Kenji Khor had to deal with them himself, but not before his citadel had suffered great damage and great loss of life. Out of fear, the students that had survived the night had taken off and had left their master alone to face his bitter rivals: necromancers from the Ghorla region.
And so that is why Kenji had taken the liberty to defend himself from the threat as best as he could. He had secured himself inside the magical circle and was about to summon forth a demon like no other, one that would surely help him if an attack from his enemies came that night. Kenji was more than a hundred percent sure an attack would come, and so he had gone to work as soon as darkness had started covering the land. If his enemies were coming, they were in for a treat.
"Dark Lord, I come to thee in need of help," Kenji was saying in an unknown language that sounded more as if he was having trouble breathing. "I enter thy dark realm and beg for your assistance. Allow your slave from Midgard the help of one of your precious demon wieads in order to destroy my enemies."
Silence within the citadel, the mage couldn't even hear the heavy rain nor the thunder rumbling outside, so concentrated was he in his chanting to take notice of any of that. Nor did he ever feel the presence of a large group of Thaumaturgists that were surrounding the citadel from all angles. Thaumaturgist was a name given to necromancers from the Ghorla region, they were all practitioners of dark magic and venerated the dark goddess Lyeia, also known as the Witch Queen from Nahhds, one of several regions in Hel.
The leader of those necromancers was a hefty fellow dressed in black. He was barking orders using a silent code that all members from the cult knew too well. Surround the place, he is all alone, this time we go in together and bring him down, was what he was saying to his followers using his bare hands and coordinated movement of his fingers.
As lightning illuminated the dark sky, responses came back to the leader from several leaders of squads. The leader smiled and nodded at his sub boss, who stood beside him. At any moment he desired, the sub boss would give the order to advance in. He rose his robed right arm decisively, when it went forward, the group would advance as one into the citadel.
***
"This looks bad, Saga," Pop sounded scared as all three of them awaited securely behind heavy bushing, watching as the scene developed. "Too many devotees to the Witch Queen I see, it could get rough, I've heard about the Ghorla group back in Asgard, bad bunch of crazies if you ask me."
Saga was listening to every word she said even if he did not appear to be doing so. His reddish orbs were scouting the entire citadel, watching every movement from the human necromancers. He knew they had surrounded the citadel from all possible angles and appeared to be waiting to attack all at once.
Did you hear what Pop just said, master?
"Of course I did, Shan," Saga replied right back without looking at her, who was waiting off to his right. "She's not going in with us, she's just suppose to provide us with equipment, so she needs not worry."
The little imp actually smiled grandly at that, and Shan saw it and couldn't help but smile back the same way.
"Alright, Saga, so I will disappear from view and wait it out here. You and Shan go in, take care of business and I will seek you out once I feel it safe enough."
"You are free to go," Saga turned to look at her. "Come seek us when you see a red flame light the sky." The little imp nodded and disappeared from view, but not before telling them to be careful.
So...I believe you have a plan, right? Shan moved closer to him once the little fairy had disappeared. I mean, I can tell it's a bunch of nasties against us.
"Not us," Saga explained as his stare went back to the scene in front. "They want to down a single enemy that awaits inside the citadel, those necros don't even know we are out here."
Which is a good thing, right, Saga?
A thunderous roar came from the heavens, unnerving Shan completely, for it had been strenuous. "Settle down, I need you relaxed," Saga told her. "The mage will die, there is nothing we can do about that, but we can help him see victory even as he dies."
Just like you did with me?
Saga said nothing back but did turn to stare hard at the archer.
Ah, come on, Shan exploded laughing. I was only...
"Teasing?" Saga finished for her. "You died brutally because...I was delayed. I mean, surely, you were going to die but not the way you did."
Oh really? Care to explain to me how I was to die, then?
"Never mind that, it matters not now, your human body is dead. Can you guarantee me that you will stay near me when we go in? Those damned necros can hit you with magic, and believe me, it will kill you if you get hit in one of your mortal spots like your heart, head...you know how it goes. If you die again, I wont be able to bring you back, you would be lost forever, for I haven't learned the Invoke Feather spell yet."
Shan, confused, nodded, feeling a bit scared. She even gulped hard to show it to Saga. The Valkyrion rolled his eyes at seeing the weakness in her, the fear. Seeing his reddish stare once again, she wondered why his eyes were the color of fire, but she dared not ask, the stare alone unsettled her more and made her turn aside.
"I have a mage slayer weapon that I will trade to you for this night only," Saga told her and offered her the Mage Slayer. Shan was surprised at seeing his action, but when he nodded at her, she took the weapon from him and exchanged her crossbow in return, which Saga took and examined. It was smaller and less heavy, an excellent piece put together by Valhallan weapon manufacturers.
On the other hand, Shan felt the new weapon was heavier, but she knew it would pack a punch against the necromancers that had gathered outside the citadel.
"You will use that thing on any mage you see," Saga instructed. "They will surely use magic to detect us as soon as they start falling, so keep them off of us while I deal with the leader, believe me, you don't wont a piece of him, he's beginning to summon a mighty friend as we speak. And to make it worse, that damned mage holed in there has summoned a greater demon, it will get rough and tough once we rush in, so stick close to me."
Shan seemed on the verge of calling it quits. Saga reached over with his closed right fist and hit Shan slightly on the cheek. "You'll be alright, you will show me your worth. Are you ready then, Einherjar?"
Feeling a little bit scared, for that fight was about to be Shan's first as an Einherjar, she simply nodded but wasn't so sure about herself. Saga knew that too, and again reassured her that they both would be alright.
"Follow me," he instructed. "Stick close and fire upon any necro you think is a threat. There are no allies out there but me and you, so you better not hesitate to pull the trigger, and don't worry a thing about reloading, the dimensional weapons automatically reload via powerful magic, you keep firing that thing if it comes to that."
A nodding Shan followed him on. Sure, she was a spirit but she could act like a normal human being, she had found out earlier when she had met Freya and Pop that she could stand on the ground and even walk upon it. If need be, she could hover and fly as well. Being dead, being a spirit, was not bad at all, she thought, it had its advantages.
(Part 2/3)
He was in deep concentration, his eyes closed tightly and his arms spread out wide like a bird in mid flight. The broad shouldered, young yamato mage was dressed in a colorful robe of red and white colors, and he was standing inside a magic circle that was surrounded by special, glittering runes.
He wore no pointy hat like other mages tended to do, rather he wore a small silver crown which had his name written inside sparkling gems that adorned the front end of the crown. Kenji Khor was his name, the teenage mage barely was eighteen years old but already knew most of the mystic arts. So advanced had he become in his magical studies at an early age that he had left the Flenceburg Sorcery Academy in order to construct his own Citadel of magic out in the western parts of the continent of Midgard near a poor village known as Villnore. He had many students learning under his wing, under his care, yet Kenji cared nothing about them at all. One day, he knew they would all become helpful to him in some way, so basically they were all just being grown for later use.
It was a dark and tempestuous night, Kenji was uttering his undecipherable chants as fast as he could, for he knew time was of the essence. Last night, his citadel had suffered an unsuspected attack. A group of enemies that he knew he had made a while back had unleashed several creatures from the abyss right outside his citadel. The monsters had been able to penetrate his magical defenses and had killed many of his students, who had been no match for the ferocious creatures of the underdark. Kenji Khor had to deal with them himself, but not before his citadel had suffered great damage and great loss of life. Out of fear, the students that had survived the night had taken off and had left their master alone to face his bitter rivals: necromancers from the Ghorla region.
And so that is why Kenji had taken the liberty to defend himself from the threat as best as he could. He had secured himself inside the magical circle and was about to summon forth a demon like no other, one that would surely help him if an attack from his enemies came that night. Kenji was more than a hundred percent sure an attack would come, and so he had gone to work as soon as darkness had started covering the land. If his enemies were coming, they were in for a treat.
"Dark Lord, I come to thee in need of help," Kenji was saying in an unknown language that sounded more as if he was having trouble breathing. "I enter thy dark realm and beg for your assistance. Allow your slave from Midgard the help of one of your precious demon wieads in order to destroy my enemies."
Silence within the citadel, the mage couldn't even hear the heavy rain nor the thunder rumbling outside, so concentrated was he in his chanting to take notice of any of that. Nor did he ever feel the presence of a large group of Thaumaturgists that were surrounding the citadel from all angles. Thaumaturgist was a name given to necromancers from the Ghorla region, they were all practitioners of dark magic and venerated the dark goddess Lyeia, also known as the Witch Queen from Nahhds, one of several regions in Hel.
The leader of those necromancers was a hefty fellow dressed in black. He was barking orders using a silent code that all members from the cult knew too well. Surround the place, he is all alone, this time we go in together and bring him down, was what he was saying to his followers using his bare hands and coordinated movement of his fingers.
As lightning illuminated the dark sky, responses came back to the leader from several leaders of squads. The leader smiled and nodded at his sub boss, who stood beside him. At any moment he desired, the sub boss would give the order to advance in. He rose his robed right arm decisively, when it went forward, the group would advance as one into the citadel.
***
"This looks bad, Saga," Pop sounded scared as all three of them awaited securely behind heavy bushing, watching as the scene developed. "Too many devotees to the Witch Queen I see, it could get rough, I've heard about the Ghorla group back in Asgard, bad bunch of crazies if you ask me."
Saga was listening to every word she said even if he did not appear to be doing so. His reddish orbs were scouting the entire citadel, watching every movement from the human necromancers. He knew they had surrounded the citadel from all possible angles and appeared to be waiting to attack all at once.
Did you hear what Pop just said, master?
"Of course I did, Shan," Saga replied right back without looking at her, who was waiting off to his right. "She's not going in with us, she's just suppose to provide us with equipment, so she needs not worry."
The little imp actually smiled grandly at that, and Shan saw it and couldn't help but smile back the same way.
"Alright, Saga, so I will disappear from view and wait it out here. You and Shan go in, take care of business and I will seek you out once I feel it safe enough."
"You are free to go," Saga turned to look at her. "Come seek us when you see a red flame light the sky." The little imp nodded and disappeared from view, but not before telling them to be careful.
So...I believe you have a plan, right? Shan moved closer to him once the little fairy had disappeared. I mean, I can tell it's a bunch of nasties against us.
"Not us," Saga explained as his stare went back to the scene in front. "They want to down a single enemy that awaits inside the citadel, those necros don't even know we are out here."
Which is a good thing, right, Saga?
A thunderous roar came from the heavens, unnerving Shan completely, for it had been strenuous. "Settle down, I need you relaxed," Saga told her. "The mage will die, there is nothing we can do about that, but we can help him see victory even as he dies."
Just like you did with me?
Saga said nothing back but did turn to stare hard at the archer.
Ah, come on, Shan exploded laughing. I was only...
"Teasing?" Saga finished for her. "You died brutally because...I was delayed. I mean, surely, you were going to die but not the way you did."
Oh really? Care to explain to me how I was to die, then?
"Never mind that, it matters not now, your human body is dead. Can you guarantee me that you will stay near me when we go in? Those damned necros can hit you with magic, and believe me, it will kill you if you get hit in one of your mortal spots like your heart, head...you know how it goes. If you die again, I wont be able to bring you back, you would be lost forever, for I haven't learned the Invoke Feather spell yet."
Shan, confused, nodded, feeling a bit scared. She even gulped hard to show it to Saga. The Valkyrion rolled his eyes at seeing the weakness in her, the fear. Seeing his reddish stare once again, she wondered why his eyes were the color of fire, but she dared not ask, the stare alone unsettled her more and made her turn aside.
"I have a mage slayer weapon that I will trade to you for this night only," Saga told her and offered her the Mage Slayer. Shan was surprised at seeing his action, but when he nodded at her, she took the weapon from him and exchanged her crossbow in return, which Saga took and examined. It was smaller and less heavy, an excellent piece put together by Valhallan weapon manufacturers.
On the other hand, Shan felt the new weapon was heavier, but she knew it would pack a punch against the necromancers that had gathered outside the citadel.
"You will use that thing on any mage you see," Saga instructed. "They will surely use magic to detect us as soon as they start falling, so keep them off of us while I deal with the leader, believe me, you don't wont a piece of him, he's beginning to summon a mighty friend as we speak. And to make it worse, that damned mage holed in there has summoned a greater demon, it will get rough and tough once we rush in, so stick close to me."
Shan seemed on the verge of calling it quits. Saga reached over with his closed right fist and hit Shan slightly on the cheek. "You'll be alright, you will show me your worth. Are you ready then, Einherjar?"
Feeling a little bit scared, for that fight was about to be Shan's first as an Einherjar, she simply nodded but wasn't so sure about herself. Saga knew that too, and again reassured her that they both would be alright.
"Follow me," he instructed. "Stick close and fire upon any necro you think is a threat. There are no allies out there but me and you, so you better not hesitate to pull the trigger, and don't worry a thing about reloading, the dimensional weapons automatically reload via powerful magic, you keep firing that thing if it comes to that."
A nodding Shan followed him on. Sure, she was a spirit but she could act like a normal human being, she had found out earlier when she had met Freya and Pop that she could stand on the ground and even walk upon it. If need be, she could hover and fly as well. Being dead, being a spirit, was not bad at all, she thought, it had its advantages.
(Part 2/3)
