Chronicles of Darkness.

[Morpheus Kenlor]

I stood there, looking down at the snow-covered ground and at the white wisps of breath forming and fading in front of me. With my thoughts on His words, I didn’t even notice the frigid northern air numbing my exposed face.

He is coming, he is coming.

Like a bell that keeps its sound for seconds, those three words kept echoing in my mind, over and over again.
I raised my face to the winter sun and closed my eyes. It felt warm. Almost pleasant.

Snap out of it Morpheus, you’ve got a job to do.

I looked at my group who were all turned the other away, but there was something wrong. The terror on their faces, it…it was something I haven’t seen since the razing of Zhentil Keep. Oh, the Keep. I turned around and than I saw and felt why they were afraid. There is not a single creature on this world that deserves my respect but this…these beings I have always feared. He was more than three-hundred feet away but I felt him looking straight through me, piercing my very being with those silver-white orbs. At that moment, time stopped. The sound of wind howling and of my cloak waving in that same wind just ceased. All I heard was my hart beating, louder and louder until I heard it, not only in my chest but all around me. Suddenly, I jumped back when he spread his massive wings and beat them against the air, blanketing the giants and gnolls that stood beside him in a veritable blizzard. His wings kept beating and beating against the air until he jumped. A massive leap, straight up, more than fifty feet high. The mighty creature flew over us, hundreds of feet above the ground. He moved into the sun and when he turned around and dove straight down throwing his large head back, all I could do is pray that the One would look after me as he did in the past.

 

[Morpheus Kenlor]

Show of Strength.

I tried to protect myself with my shield but the frigid blast smashed me into a large strewn boulder. Unlike myself, Le Fay had jumped well clear of the dragon’s icy breath. As she looked at the approaching beast, two blades started to materialize in her hands and when the dragon flew by, she hurled the two deadly knifes at him. They soared, spinning through the air, straight at the beast with uncanny accuracy. They both struck him just under his right wing, but no sooner did white blood gush from the deep wound or Cyric’s Dark Blades had already returned to the hands of the Mistress. I wanted to stand up, but I suddenly felt the earth shaking beneath me. The snow shuffled back and forth. What’s happ…the giants. I stood up and turned around and I saw that they were charging at us, bellowing orders and war-cries. The gnolls, too, were sprinting at us, laughing hideously. I gritted my teeth and looked down at my black sword with its red hue.

It’s time…Godsbane.

I looked at Krunk and than at Bob who was trying to summon up some kind of protection. Then I looked back at the giants.

“Kruuunk!!!! Wipe them out!”

The barbarian complied without hesitating, holding his crystal axe up high and yelling out a cry for battle while charging the giants. Suddenly, a shadowy wave fell over the battlefield and kept pulsating, wave after wave. Bob’s spell was complete. It made everything so clear, I could see everything, hear everything. As soon as Bob was done, he threw a small flask to the barbarian, who was passing him by.

“Catch!”

Krunk looked at the flask and a vicious smile grew on his face when he gulped it down, still charging. His strides seemed longer and higher until the he came to a rock, stepped on it and pushed himself off into the air, straight at one of the giant’s head. I wanted to summon the divine power of Cyric, but a large shadow on the ground kept on getting bigger and bigger, and I don’t mean Bob’s protection. I tried to jump out of the way but it was useless. The dragon would have no doubt crushed me under his massive body if it wasn’t for my magic armour. But I was still stuck under his immense body. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t see what was going on on the battlefield. I could only hear sounds.
Screams.
Cries.
I could hear Bob cursing the foul dragon, trying to muster up some kind of attack.
I could hear the clang of weapons against armour, the screams of the dying.
My breathing became heavy and frantic. With all these sounds came old memories.
My father.
My mother.
The quest.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to let it out. I summoned my most powerful spell. My arm became a shadow and I slowly pushed it into the dragon. I could feel with my fist his cold blood rushing through his veins and then I opened my fist…
and let it out.

 

[Joker]

[Wrong name]

 

[Morpheus Kenlor]

Our Beginning...and their End.

His skin exploded. Tears ripped across his body and flames shot from the wounds. His roars of pain were so loud that I feared they would split my skull. I suddenly felt a huge weight lift of me and at the same time hearing slow, rhythmic beats against the air. He was trying to escape. I couldn’t let him. I wouldn’t. No-one attacks me without facing the consequences. No-one.
I pushed myself of the ground and tried to slash the beast as it flew away from me but it was in vain. He was out of my reach. I was about to blast him out of the sky but when I looked to my left I saw I didn’t have to.
Krunk, who just finished off a giant by flying upward and smashing his axe through the jaw and skull of the creature, was flying further up and arched towards the dragon. He soared towards the beast and tore its throat apart with his crystal axe. The dragon desperately tried to ward off Krunk with one claw and hold his throat together with the other, but it was useless. Krunk easily dodged the flailing monstrosity and slammed his beautiful two-handed axe straight into the left eye of the dragon, which sunk deeply into his skull. Krunk pushed himself off the lifeless dragon which tumbled ungracefully in the air and smashed into the cold ground. I turned my attention to a retreating giant. While cradling his mangled arm he looked at me over his shoulder. I could see straight into his eyes. The hope that his life won’t be taken and that he could live to see another day was overly evident. A smile grew on my face when I realized I could crush that hope with a thought. I pointed my arm towards the giant and a dark purple orb of light formed in my outstretched hand. Although dripping blood clouded my vision, thanks to Bob’s spell I was able to focus perfectly on the retreating oaf. I closed my eyes and let Cyric’s Blessing guide the burning ray. When I opened my eyes I could see the smoldering carcass lying on the ground, heavily burned. I turned around to see the last giant grabbing Krunk in the air and slamming him against the ground. Krunk, however, was undeterred and split the giants’ right knee-cap, causing blood to gush from the wound and the giant to stagger on his good leg. The huge monster took a few steps back, cocked his head back and spat out a bone-numbing blizzard.
This time, however, I was prepared. The blast hurt, but it was nothing compared to what I had suffered before. That was his final attempt to save his life. He had nothing left. Then, the creature was pounded with everything we had.
Krunk slashed off his right leg in the middle of the shinbone.
Faramir released five red glowing orbs which exploded in the giants’ chest.
Lefay threw her two deadly blades both into his heart.
And finally a small bolt sunk deeply into the back of the giants head, thanks to the little thief.
And I?
I turned around and gazed across the scorched, bloodied and body-strewn fields, leaving the giants’ screams for mercy and his cries in pain behind me. I looked at the still smoking bodies of the gnolls, the torn apart carcasses of the giants and dragon, but there was something dreadfully wrong.

If this is just the beginning…what trials would come next?

“Whereto now, Morph?” Lefay said in a weary, breathless voice.
“You know where our mission will take us.” I looked across the fields to my left and through the blowing snow I could see black walls glooming ahead.
“Zhentil Keep.”