Published: 15 Feb 2021

The End is Near

The morning was bright and the air was cool. The first day of the Davan spring season began as an enormous blackbird came sailing in, out of Sorrowdowns ruined city. As it arrived at its destination, it winged its way down to one of the short gate towers of the palace and perched on the tiled roof. Ranjer peered down at the castle’s courtyard. The yard was muddy and filled with the discarded debris of the old regime. During the revolt, the slaves made the castle one of their main targets for destruction. The palace guards were quickly defeated, and the palace doors were torn down. Like a swarm of angry insects, the slaves came in and ripped through the palace. The age-old furniture was torn to pieces. The palace had been designed and built by elven artisans. Its stone and carpentry were carved by both high elves and dwarves. The majesty of their artwork had been splendid. Scenes had been carved in marble depicting some of the battles that had won the empire. Two of Emperor Pius’s ancestors, Gladius Philibus and Regulus Tobias were carved in scenes of them fighting the Hities and the Mondunes that once occupied the land where Sorrowdown sat. Tapestries of minor battles hung in many different places all around the palace. All that had been ripped down and burned during the slave revolt. So much history of the Pius Empire, destroyed with the death of the Emperor.

As Ranjer watched the front gate of the palace, two men came walking out to stand in the front courtyard. One was heavyset and wore gray pants and a darker gray tunic. All the colors of his flesh mirrored the gray of his clothing. The other wore green, the color of grass, and the plant life that grew all around the courtyard. The minute Ranjer saw them, he knew what they were. Elementals here to do battle with him. Alone, he knew he would need help to defeat these two adversaries.

[Niro.] he sent out. [I think I’m going to need some help here.]

[Where are you?]

[In the palace courtyard,] Ranjer answered.

[I will be there in three tiks,]

As Ranjer stared down at the two Elementals, the gray called out to him.

“We know you’re up there,” it said. “Our Master has called us out to kill you. I am Stone and this is Weed. Where are the Dragons?”

Ranjer hopped off the edge of the roof and sailed down, landing fifty feet in front of the two Elementals. As he made the shift back to his Vampire form, the green one raised his arms and summoned a circle of vines to grow underneath him. Huge leaves grew out as the vines expanded to an enormous size. As the vines grew, the green-clad Elemental stepped on to one of the leaves and was lifted high into the air.

[Niro, you better hurry!] Ranjer sent.

[Almost there,]

“They will be here when the time is right,” Ranjer said looking at them with a serious glare. “But they will face your Master, not you.”

“We will see who they face,” Stone said as he raised his foot and stomped down, shaking the ground like unto a small quake. Ranjer jumped up and launched a series of power bolts at the two Elementals. As a power bolt came at him, Weed steered his vine out to the side. He reached out and called a vine to pop up underneath Ranjer. In seconds it reached up, grabbed his leg and pulled him down. Ranjer tugged at the vines that held him. They were almost as strong as iron. That would hold a regular Vampire, but not a Prince of Vassali. Roaring out his rage, Ranjer ripped the vines out of the ground and threw them at the Elemental. As Weed ducked the flying vines, Niro came running in through the gates. He raised his hammer, swung it around over his head, and sent it flying at Stone. Feeling powerful, Stone smiled as the hammer came flying at him. When it hit Stone, there was a sound like that of a great brass bell. Stone screamed as cracks appeared in his chest that ran up to his shoulder.

“I guess your Master couldn’t make you strong enough to resist my hammer,” Niro said as he raised his hammer and walked toward Stone. “Get ready to be smashed down to a pile of rocks.”

As Niro lifted his hammer, stone sent a boulder sailing through the air at him. Niro threw up his ringed hand and sent the boulder crashing into the forest. Spinning his hammer by its cord handle, Niro advanced on Stone. Swinging down, he sent a rock crushing blow just to Stone’s side. Thrusting out his fist, Stone punched out at Niro’s chest. Niro brought his hammer up to intercept the blow. As his fist ricocheted off the hammer, Stone spun around swinging out at Niro’s head. Up came the hammer with incredible speed. With a loud crash, the hammer smashed into his fist, breaking a finger off his hand. Stone pulled his hand back and screamed out in pain. Slowly he looked up into Niro’s eyes. Niro saw the anger in his eyes. He had really hurt him and there would be no turning back now. Stone was going to kill him or die trying. With an angry growl, Stone raised his hands and formed them into hammers. Stone’s hammers were bigger than Niro’s but not as powerful.

“Come and get it.” Niro tossed his hammer up and caught it by its leather handle. As Stone moved toward him, Niro raised his hammer into a defensive stand. Stone snarled and charged in at Niro. As Niro lifted his weapon to be ready to strike, a blazing gout of fire blew up in front of him forcing the two combatants apart. Shielding his eyes for a second, Niro took a step back and turned away from The fire. When he looked back, the flame wall was fading away and Caius Pius was standing there in between them.

“Step away Stone,”

“No!!” the Elemental shrieked. “I’m going to kill him!!”

“No,” Caius said calmly. “You will do what I tell you to do, or I will kill you.”

Stone wasn’t afraid of Caius. Maybe he did have the power to kill him, but after the way, Niro had hurt him. Stone wanted his blood, and he would have it whether Caius liked it or not.

“For the last time,” Caius shouted at Stone. “Leave us now.”

“The Master is a fool if he trusts you,” Stone yelled waving his hammers around. “You’re going to betray us, and side with him and the Dragons! He may trust you, but I don’t and I will not let you turn traitor on us!”

As Stone leaped at Caius, Quyyn came streaking down out of the clouds and plowed into the Elemental. Stone was thrown out at the ruins, where he crashed into a wall that fell, dropping a ton of stones on him. Surprised, Stone pushed the stones off of him and stood up shaking his head. Quyyn roared and charged in. He grabbed him in his mouth and threw him into a second wall. Stunned by the dragon’s attack, Stone crawled back up on his feet. With Caius here joining the dragon, he had no choice but to get back to the Master and stand at his side. Crouching down, Stone leaped up into the air. His trajectory would take him back to the palace. Once there, he and the Master could rid themselves of their enemy, then the world would be theirs for the taking.

“So are we going to fight?” Niro asked. “If so, let’s get it over with.”

“No,” Caius said looking down. “I don’t want to fight you.”

“Then what do you want?” He asked. “For all those sun-turns you and your friends beat me up. You treated me like dirt and all I ever wanted was to be your friend.”

“I’m sorry,”

“You’re sorry?” Niro shouted. “What’s that supposed to mean? I didn’t go a single day in lessons without bruises. You harassed and tortured me day after day. Why? Did you hate me that much?”

“No!!” Caius screamed. “I love you and I couldn’t stand the looks you gave me!!”

“‘What?” Niro said as he stepped back away from Caius. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing,” Caius looked back at Niro, embarrassed. His feet shuffled and a tear ran down from his eye. “I was stupid. If I had just shut my mouth and let you talk, all this could have been different.”

“Caius,” Niro stepped closer. Close enough to touch him. He reached out and put his hands on his arms. “I think I know what you said, but I have to hear it again to make sure I’m right. Don’t be afraid, everything is different now. Tell me what you said.”

“I…. love you.”

From that moment on, everything that had happened between them was forgotten. Niro remembered how much he had loved Caius when they were children. He pulled Caius into his arms and whispered in his ear.

“I love you too.”

With tears in their eyes, they kissed. Caius and Niro held each other tight, as if they would never let go. Caius moaned as Niro’s hand slipped down the back of his pants and roamed all over his bottom. He responded with a pounding in the front of his pants. As Niro pulled back, he gave him a short kiss on his nose.

“We have to finish this now,”

“I know,” Caius said. “Bram has to be stopped.”

“Stay close to me,” Niro took his hand. “Don’t you ever go away.”

“I won’t,”

As Ranjer faced off against Weed, the Elemental threw a handful of seeds at him. Like tiny missiles, they came flying at him. Ranjer threw out a force wave that sent the seeds spinning away from him. As they hit the ground, each seed broke open and pushed roots down into the soil. Black flowers shot up out of the ground with small pods hanging at the end of the stems. As Weed steered his vines in to attack Ranjer, the pods opened and three-inch black insects came flying out at him. Ranjer swung out with an energized hand to swat the bug things. They were black with flaming wings.

Each one had six legs and pincers that were strong enough to cut into his flesh. At the end of the bugs, there was a barbed stinger. As the deadly fire bees attacked, Ranjer fought back swinging as fast as he could. But he wasn’t fast enough. The fire bees zipped in and stung and pinched leaving cuts and burns all over him.

[Bly!!, help me!!]

As Ranjer screamed out for help, Weed grabbed another fist full of seeds and threw them down. He laughed as the seeds took root and more pods grew out of the ground. As the pods popped open, something small came zipping into the battle blasting away at the fire bees. Bly glowed with power as she targeted the bees knocking them off with her fairy precision.

[Get back to that green thing,] Bly sent. [I’ll keep the fire bees off you.]

[Thank you Princess,]

Pissed off and in pain, Ranjer looked around for Weed. Suddenly he heard something behind him. Just as Weed shot a spray of poison gas at Ranjer, he shot up into the sky, swung around, and came back shooting bolts of power at Weed. As the bolts shot down at Weed, he threw up his hand, raising a slab of dense greenery in front of him. When the bolts hit the green shield, Weed shot vines out to capture Ranjer. Ranjer flexed his claws and started ripping away at the vines. As fast as Weed sent the vines, Ranjer tore them into fodder. With his hands full of ripped up vines, Ranjer threw them down and dove at Weed. The Elemental raised another shield, but it wasn’t strong enough. Ranjer blasted right through it and attacked Weed. Fists beat at the Elemental with Vampire speed. Indeed, Weed was powerful. But he didn’t have anywhere near the strength it would take to fight off the second son of the king of the Vampires.

As Ranjer held him down, he started a binding spell to take away the power Bram had given him.

SPELL FOR SPELL.
AND POWER REMOVED.
BREAK THE SPELL.
HIS POWER DISAPPROVED.

Weed’s eyes started to glow as his body started to shake. Ranjer let him go, stood up and stepped away from him. As the spell faded away, Weed’s eyes opened. He reached into himself to command the vines to grab Ranjer and crush him. When nothing happened, Weed jumped to his feet. He wanted to attack Ranjer on his own, but he knew without Bram’s power, the Vampire could kill him with a single swing of his hand.

“Your fight is over,” Ranjer put his hands on his hips. “I advise you to leave Sorrowdown and find peace. If I feel your presence anywhere out there doing crimes, I will see you again. Don’t make me come look for you. Now get out of Sorrowdown.”

Nodding his head, he swore he would never trouble them again. Then he turned and ran for the city’s front gate. Ranjer watched as the ex Elemental ran off. He turned and stared up at the palace. Bram was still in there. He was probably watching them right now. Well, it was time to do something about that.

Tired, Ranjer stepped out from the ruins where he and Weed had been fighting. He moved slowly because he was a little dizzy from the battle. His powers were drained and what he needed was to feed. Niro and Caius were standing there holding hands. Ranjer smiled. It was about time those two got down to the reason there was so much animosity between them.

“Is everything good here?”

“Yes,” Niro said as he squeezed Caius’s hand. “Quyyn is still out looking for that stone elemental.”

“Where’s Bly?” Ranjer asked.

“Here,” She said as she flew out of the trees to land on Ranjer’s shoulder. Her eyes were still glowing with power. “We should go find Quyyn, he’s going to need our help.”

“Where’s Sky and the others?”

“They’re here,” Niro said. “They’re heading for the palace from another direction.”

“Then we should go.” Ranjer turned to leave and he stumbled. Caius hurried over and caught him as his knees buckled. “I.. I’m alright. Just give me a sec to rest.”

“You need to feed,” Bly said. “There are cattle in the city corral. Go feed and we’ll meet you at the palace. Don’t worry, we’ll wait to go in.”

Ranjer gave her a nod, then turned to shift to his blackbird form and flew off.

“How far away is the palace?” Bly asked. She hopped off of Ranjer’s shoulder and came down to shift to her full-sized form. Today Bly wore a set of dark armor. Breastplates with shell-like arm covers. On her legs, she had the same shell-like plating.

“There,” Niro pointed out four high towers off in the distance. “Maybe thirty tiks away by horse.”

“How long by air?” She asked.

“Ten tiks,” Caius answered.

“Then we fly.”

Niro looked at them like he didn’t understand. He couldn’t fly. He could ride on his boulders, but he couldn’t keep it in the air that long.

“I can take you,” Caius said as he raised Niro’s hand and kissed it. “It won’t take long.”

“Then let’s go.”

At the palace, there was a great explosion as Stone dropped down out of the sky. Grabbing the rim of the pit he made when he came down to land, Stone climbed out and hurried into the palace. As he stomped his way in, Stone looked for the guards or any of the house’s attending staff to warn them of the coming Dragons. But there was no one here. The palace was empty. Well, not quite empty. Bram Thorne was still here. He could feel his dismal presence all through the halls. Hurrying on, Stone made it to the throne room. He threw open the doors and ran in.

“Master!,” He shouted as he approached the throne. “The Dragons are here!”

“Where is Caius?” Bram asked calmly.

“He betrayed us.” Stone kneeled down before his master. “The fool joined with the Dragons. He didn’t even lift a finger against them.”

[And you thought he would fight for you?] A voice in his head laughed at him. [You got just what you deserve. This idiot down there on the floor will betray you too. You know he will. What are you going to do about it?]

“SHUT UP!!!” Bram slammed his fist down on the armrest of the throne breaking it to pieces. “No one betrays me and gets away with it!”

Stone jumped to his feet and took a step back away from the warlock.

“Don’t you move.” Bram pointed down at Stone. “You thought you could take my power and turn it against me. Well, you were wrong and I’m going to teach you what I do to traitors.”

“But Master,” Stone cried. “I didn’t betray you! It was Caius, not me!!”

“SILENCE YOU LIAR!” The laughter in his head was so loud he could barely hear Stone. Scrambling like a crab, Stone tried to get up and run from the throne room. Bram reached out with his magic and grabbed the elemental. He pulled him close to face him.

“You will be my weapon against the Dragons,” Saliva sprayed out into Stone’s face. Bram’s breath was so horrible, the elemental could barely breathe.

FROM MAN TO STONE.
TALL AND STRONG.
YOU WILL DO AS I SAY.
NOTHING WILL GO WRONG.
A GOLEM OF STONE.
MY SOLDIER OF REVENGE.
YOU WILL DO MY BIDDING.
YOU WILL AVENGE.

Bram released his magical hold on Stone and threw him across the room. Stone sat up as an electrical tingling feeling started to spread through his body. As the shocks grew stronger, he started to convulse and shake. He screamed as his body stretched and grew heavier. His clothing ripped away as his body turned completely to stone. His eyes became black and soulless. His convulsions stopped and he lay there motionless. Bram stepped down from his throne, walked over to inspect his new minion and give him his first commands.

“Go find your brothers,” he ordered. “Kill my enemies. They will be waiting for you outside. Go!”

With a wave of his hand, Bram sent his Golem out to kill. As the Golem disappeared, Bram started to laugh. His revenge was almost complete, and the world would be his to rule.

Our authors deserve your support. The only payment they receive are the emails you send them. Let Jandar know you are reading: Jandar dot Tyr at CastleRoland dot net.

15,544 views