The Life Of Kronus, Part 1. The Adventure Begins.

It wasn’t that long ago that Kronus was a great warrior. He had fought in the 10 year war against the cruel and powerful country Morthal. A brave warrior and leader, he was once known as Lightdefender. Now all he was was a broken man. He sat pitifully in a run down bar, drunk, where he had lived for the last few months. In front of him was a battered ak47, and next to it was Death Bringer, a huge ornate sword. Right beside him sat an empty chair, empty, just like a hole in his heart. To the war he had lost his family, and lost his country. The wicked kingdom of Morthal was always looking for more land for their people to settle down in. Kronus and his clansmen fought hard for their beloved country, but their resistance was crushed. In his drunken stupor he could remember his old life, and his hopeless fight against immeasurable odds just like it was yesterday........

Kronus was born in a small valley village called Ivarstead, to a loving mother and father in their early twenties. He also had four brothers and two sisters. They made a living as farmers, growing corn, squash, apples, and other crops in the lush valley. 

When he wasn’t working in the fields taking care of the plants or harvesting new plants to sell, Kronus spent most of his time in the marketplace, where he helped sell his family’s crops. 

He was sweet on a girl that he often saw there, her name was Melina, and she was the second daughter of a couple that owned the only tavern in the village. Little did he know that someday in the far out future, they would be a married couple. 

Life in Ivarstead valley was perfect, tranquil. Kronus spent his free time with a small group of friends made up of children from the village, where they would play together. They would have sword fights with sticks, climb trees, and explore the mountains that surrounded the valley village. 

Until the day that one such adventure went terribly wrong.

Kronus and his friends had been exploring an especially steep mountainside for the last three hours. Among their group were Seth, the oldest and the leader of the group, Chris, a somewhat shy boy, Angel who was the younger sister of Seth, Melina, and of course Kronus. As they made their way up the mountainside, each of the children could feel the sweat on their faces, as the sun’s rays and the steep mountainside drained their energy. Chris was the first to give in to exhaustion.

“Can we turn back now and go back to the village. I’m tired and need a drink,” Chris moaned.

“If your tired, we can take a break and drink some water, but I think we have enough energy to go a little farther than this,” replied Seth.

They found the perfect place to take a break, a cave where the air was cool and the sun could not reach within it’s deeps. It was then that Melina came up with an interesting idea.

“Why don’t we explore this cave? I’m excited to find out what lies within,” Melina suggested.

“I agree, I wonder what treasure we might find inside it,” said Kronus, excited.

“What do you two think?” Asked Seth to his sister Angel, and Chris.

Both agreed that they should explore the cave. And so the group of five children made there way into the old, dark, and foreboding cave. Inside the cave they came across a small lake in the darkness, and an island in the middle of the lake with what seemed like a large slab of stone in the center of it. 

As the group came closer, to their surprise, they found the island was composed completely of the remains of human beings. While the bottom parts of the island were mainly made up of bones, the top of the island was by far the most disturbing, as the remains were much more recent. 

The rotten flesh of the dead was a chilling sight indeed, and smelled rancid. The group said nothing, as they stared into what looked like Hell itself. In the middle of the island of bones stood an ancient blood alter, the stone bleached a dark red from the lives of the hundreds of dead that it stood upon. 

After so much life blood had been spilled on the once smooth and beautiful granite, it was now rusty, crumbly, and crimson red. Upon the rusted stone reeking of death, was a fresh body, a young woman from Ivarstead. She couldn’t have been older than 17. 

At the sight of the bodies the children could not help but vomit out whatever they still had in their stomaches, splashes of greenish yellow liquid that soon dissolved in the sickly lake. It was then that they realized that the lake wasn’t a lake of water at all. It was blood, and human excrement, and tears. 

An ungodly voice perforated the room, muttering what sounded like gibberish to the children, but was actually the One Language. The first form of communication since the birth of life, the language of the Primal, a race of gods that were the first to come into existence, and the first to create their own life. Long dead and forgotten, the Primal were no more. Destroyed by their own creations, by the Elder Gods, the Primal were banished from this realm. 

The voice continued to speak, and a red mist seemed to come from the blood alter. There was no doubt about it, there was a Primal within that rock, and it wanted blood. 

Seth was the first to fall. As his eyes glazed over, he grabbed for the hunting knife that hung at his belt, it had been a gift from his father, and the only protection that the group had. Now he held it up in a battle stance. Kronus saw it all happen, and soon realized that he had no control of his body. Unable to fight back, the voice took control of his body. 

In fact, the only one who wasn’t effected was Chris. Frightened, Chris shrieked at the body that sat on the bloody stone. Startled, Chris looked around to see his friends closing in on him, with blank stares on their faces. Chris. Forever the coward. He was not as courageous as his friends, but he was the only one of them who had a pure heart, and so could not come under the influence of the Primal. So in the Primal’s eyes, he was the perfect sacrifice. Chris was brought kicking and screaming through the lake, to the island.

NO, PLEASE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?? NO, NOT THE BLOODY STONE, DON’T DO THIS TO ME, PLEASE, LET ME GO, LET ME GOOOOOOO!!!! Begged the innocent little boy. Kronus was forced to watch as his body pinned Chris’s weaker body to the bloody alter, moving the previous sacrifice off the stone, and onto the ever growing pile of bodies that surrounded it. 

He was forced to watch as Seth’s body brought the knife ever closer to his friends helpless body. You could literally see the effort that Seth was going through to stop his arm, as it shook madly. But it came ever closer to Chris, and the voice of the Primal was far too strong. 

Slowly, agonizingly slow, the knife slid across Chris’s throat. Kronus could hear the gurgling of his poor friend as his life essence bleed all over the stone. The stone glowed bright orange, and Kronus could feel the pulse of the stone, just like it was a living thing. 

Finally, the pulsing stopped, the light faded, the voice stopped speaking, and the children returned to their bodies. 

Kronus felt absolute regret, anguish, sadness, and bitter hopelessness. He looked at his dead friend and felt like his heart was empty. And in its place a black hole. And he would live with this for the rest of his life. 

Unfortunately Seth could not live with what had happened. The utter madness of how he was forced to watch as he slit his friend’s throat was too much. Seth made his way out of the cave and threw himself over the edge of the cliff outside. He died. 

Later the next night his sister Angel was found hanging from a rope in her room. She could not live with the deaths of her loving brother and faithful friend, both dead. She had committed suicide. 

That left the only two survivors of the horrible incident. Melina and Kronus.They were forced to live their lives knowing and never forgetting the horrible tragedy. The cave was entered by holy men, and the stone supposedly destroyed. 

The bodies of the children were buried a week later. People of the poor valley village cried openly at the complete lose of life. Mothers held their children a little closer. Fathers put on fake smiles to hide their pain, as if to say everything would be all right. But it wouldn’t be. Not for Kronus and Melina. Not ever.

Kronus drifted out of his old memories, and found himself back at the bar. He ordered another ale, and sat back down in his chair. The tears flowed freely, but he would not cry. Again, he fell back into the memory of his past life. Remembering his pain.

Years passed at the peaceful little mountain village, and no one wanted to remember the horrible tragedy that had occurred in Ivarstead. But Kronus and Melina would not forget. And they would not forgive. 

They no longer fit in with the others of the village. Their serious attitude made them hard to approach, and the village shunned them for what they had done. 

Even Kronus’s own parents seemed to their backs on him and his only friend. But somewhere in their peaceful little mountain town was a murderer. Someone who worshipped a child killer, that was willing to go so far as to sacrifice a helpless child, as well as many others. Someone that didn’t care that two children would commit suicide. And Kronus and Melina could not let this go. 

Growing into young adults, they studied hard the art of war, fueled by hate. And at the same time, tried to solve the mystery of who had killed the young woman and three children that had been their friends.

As they grew into adulthood, they found that they had become formidable warriors. But that wasn’t the only thing they found. They also found love. The two were married at age 18, and built a small home for themselves hidden in the mountains. 

This was so that they were away from the village, and could no longer feel the pain of rejection that they felt every day they had spent at Ivarstead since that day their friends had died. The two sparred together every day, and exercised their bodies so that when the time was right and they had found the murderer, they would be ready to pass judgement on said murderer and finally be free of their anguish, anger, and suffering. 

Years passed, and there were no signs that the murderer would ever show up again, until something went terribly wrong. A child was found missing. And every few weeks, someone else would also go missing. It wasn’t long before the mayor and village elders decided that enough was enough, and guards were sent in from a major city nearby. 

For Kanata, a city with strong stone walls surrounding it, and hundreds of guards to serve and protect the city, it was simple for 20 guards from the city to go to Ivarstead and protect it until the threat was resolved. Now everyone had to be inside a home by

9:00 PM at night, and meet in the center of the village at 8:00 AM in the morning, where everyone would be counted to check if anyone was missing. The captain of the guards, Mandra Broadshield, promised to the towns folk that the missing villagers would be found, and the ones responsible would be executed. Word had also come to Kronus and his wife Melina. 

The two decided to keep a closer eye on their home town at this time as well. A week after the guards had come, everyone gathered together in the middle of the town to find the severed head of one of the village elders lying in the middle of the road. 

Fear was among the villagers, and one of the women who had lost a loved one cried openly. The words of the guards and their captain no longer soothed the villagers. Without knowing who the kidnapper was, the guards were no more helpful than vinegar to a man dying of thirst. 

Knowing of the guards blunder, and looking desperately for revenge, Kronus and Melina decided to lay a trap. Every night the two would hide in the village until dawn. Using their stealth and combat skills, the guards didn’t even know that they were there. And after two weeks of hiding the tired couple finally found the culprit. 

Just around midnight, they saw in the darkness two running figures, carrying a large brown sack, that seemed to be moving. No doubt with a body in it. They were obviously skilled beings, as the guards did not see a thing. Kronus, drawing his ak47, chased after them, silent as a cat as Melina wielded her Death Bringer, the wicked great sword that could cut through flesh and bone like butter as they followed the two black figures. 

The chase went on, and the two figures must have noticed they were being followed because they picked up their speed and occasionally shot at the young couple to slow them down. Finally, after what was a good hour of running and parkour, the two figures stopped at a cave, and entered. But not before dropping several grenades at the entrance. 

Surprised, Kronus and Melina hit the ground outside the cave as half a dozen grenades exploded. They emerged from the explosion virtually unscathed, and made their way into the cave. The two black cloaked figures were no where to be seen.

“We lost them.....” Muttered Melina.

“No, not yet. They have to be somewhere in this cave. We should move forward.” Kronus replied.

And so Kronus and Melina made their way deeper into the cave.

Going deeper into the cave, something felt chillingly familiar to Kronus. He started to have flashbacks of the old cave. The island of bones, the bloody stone, the powerful voice of the Primal, and the death of his friends. Losing his footing, he fell to the ground. His heart was going a mile a minute.

“What’s wrong?” Melina asked in a worried voice.

“Somethings not right here. This cave......” stammered Kronus.

“I know, I feel it too.” replied Melina, “But this is our chance to end this nightmare, and we can’t stop now. To wash our hands clean of Chris’s death and the others. If you won’t do it, I’ll do it myself.”

Slowly, Kronus got up. Melina smiled, and they continued on their way. Finally, they reached a large empty cavern. Inside, the two dark figures kneeled over a very familiar stone. On the stone sat the contents of the sack. The bloody remains of a child. 

His chest and stomach had been ripped open, and the blood and chunks of flesh that sat upon the blood alter were a disturbing sight. But Kronus and Melina had seen worse in their nightmares, and the sight did not scare them. It made them furious. Around the room sat the decaying remains of all the missing villagers. Bits and pieces were littered around the room. There were few bodies that still had all their parts attached.

The figures got up and turned to face them. They wore completely black uniforms, that blended in with the night. The smaller of the figures dual wielded flintlock revolvers. The bigger one, supposably a man, held a large “mega” sword. The sword was coated in some sort of substance, perhaps acid or poison.

This was the vengeance that Kronus had wanted, and so richly deserved. Exchanging a quick glance at Melina, he knew that she felt the same way. And without a word, the fight began.

Kronus was the first to strike, with a burst of shots straight at the two figures in black. Dodging with great skill, the smaller one did a neat quick roll to the left, while the larger man blocked the bullets with his massive sword. Charging at Melina, the larger figure swung his massive sword aiming at her neck, hoping to decapitate her. Melina crouched down as the sword went right over her head.

“ARRRAAAAAAAGHG!!!” Yelled Melina as she stabbed at the large black figure.

You could literally feel the anger that went into her swing.

“THIS IS FOR CHRIS YOU BASTARDS” She said.

The large dark figure neatly dodged the blade of her sword, and kicked her straight in the chest. Melina slid across the cave floor.

But Kronus was having his own battle. Kronus shot another flurry of bullets at the small dark figure, but it was simply for her to dodge and shoot back with her two revolvers. Kronus’s arm was grazed by a bullet, and he started to bleed. 

Knowing that shooting from his range was easy for the small dark figure to dodge, he charged her, and as doing so drew a hidden dagger from his coat. The small dark figure shot 4 shots in quick succession from her revolvers. Kronus did his best to dodge, but was still hit in the stomach by one of the shots. 

Yet he continued his charge. 

Reaching the woman in black, she looked startled, he knew he had the advantage in closer combat. He stabbed at her with his knife once, she dodged, slashed at her a second time, she dodged again, and he finally stabbed at her stomach a third time. She dropped her revolvers, and caught the blade with both hands. He had her now, the knife was a bluff. He dropped the knife, and shot her point blank with the ak47. She rolled away, bleeding. But as she did, she dropped a nice surprise for Kronus. Three more grenades.

“Oh shit,” muttered Kronus. The blast blow Kronus across the room, and he landed on his side. He could barely move, and it was all he could do just to watch Melina’s fight.

Melina got up. She could tell immediately that her ribs were badly bruised, but not yet broken. She held her Death Bringer sword with both hands in a fighting stance, breathing heavily. The man silently walked towards Melina with his mega sword outstretched. He tried an upward slash that Melina was just barely able to parry. 

The man in black slashed at Melina in quick succession, with the strength of a mountain. It was all Melina could do to parry his strikes, and she was beginning to get tired. But she would not give up. It was not a trait she possessed. She was not as strong as the man, and she had less reach with her sword, but she was faster. Taking advantage of this, she kicked the man below the waste and quickly swung her sword. The man did not have enough time to dodge completely, the blade of the nicked his mask and it fell to the ground. And........

How? The face Melina saw staring back at her was the madly grinning face of Kronus’s father. Kronus saw it too.

“Why?” Kronus said, between breathes.

“Your mother and I have been blackhoods since before you were born. You wouldn’t have understood. You never understood. The power we got from serving our master, a Primal God, and the training in necromancy from our leader Mad Ricky, was well worth all the souls that we had to sacrifice. You served your purpose as well, you even brought us a sacrifice, your friend Chris. We planned to tell you and let you share our power, but your anger after that incident made us unsure if you would ever join us. But we will give you one more chance. You and your wife will join us, or you will die.” Said Kronus’s father. The woman in black took off her mask too, and showed the face of Kronus’s mother.

“We would never join you murderers, YOU ARE MY FAMILY NO MORE!” Replied Kronus.

Smiling as if they were enjoying a nice beautiful walk through the mountains, rather than killing their own son and his wife, Kronus’s mother said, “You know, there are many bodies here. Would you like to see some of the power we earned from Mad Ricky in action?” Said Kronus’s mother. Then she laughed. 

The bodies that littered the cavern came to life, and attacked the young couple. It was not long before the living corpses had Kronus and Melina pinned to the ground. Broken and defeated, it seemed that Kronus and Melina had come to the end of the line. 

Kronus’s father picked Kronus and Melina up by their necks, and dragged their damaged bodies to the blood alter, where their blood would be spilled one final time. Using the stone like an executioner’s block, Melina’s head was put on the stone. 

Kronus lacked the ability to move after the grenades had hit him point blank. There was nothing Kronus could do but watch. Kronus’s father held his mega sword high above his head, and was just about to bring it down when he was shot in the arm. Startled and crying out in pain, Kronus’s father looked up to see two guards. 

They must have followed us from the village, thought Kronus. Thank the gods they came, he thought to himself. One of the guards held a pistol, while the other had a Flaming Needle Bow. One of the guards took out a walkie-talkie, “This is team 6, requesting backup. There are two Blackhood necromancers here, a blood altar and a hell of a lot of dead bodies. I think we found where all the kidnapped villagers ended up. We also found two survivors, but I don’t think they’re from the village. I don’t recognize them.”

“Surrender now, or prepare to die!” Yelled one of the guards, obviously the cockier one.

“I would rather die than surrender to the likes of you,” replied Kronus’s father.

The cocky guard answered with a flaming arrow, which Kronus’s father easily caught in mid air with his bare hands.

“Your too weak,” spat Kronus’s mother.

The not quite as cocky guard took out his walkie-talkie and said, “So, how long until we get some reinforcements?

The undead quickly surrounded the guards, scratching and biting at them.

Kronus lay on the ground, bleeding. But right in front of him was his ak47. While his parents had their attention on the guards, Kronus took hold of his ak47. He knew it was a cheap shot, but the two Primal worshipping Blackhoods had more skill than him, knew magic, could raise people from the dead, and probably had other tricks up their sleeves too. 

Besides, so far in their battle they had been toyed with. His parents didn’t even need to use their magic or necromancy to defeat him and his wife. And now he could barely move, and was blacking out from lack of blood. It was now or never.

“Goodbye mom,” said Kronus with pain in his voice for things having to end up like this.

His mother looked back just in time to be shot in the head. And that was it. She fell to the ground. Dead.

“YOU BASTARD”, his father yelled, “You should have never been born.” Kronus’s father said coldly to his son. Suddenly, Melina got up. She was holding her Death Bringer, and gave Kronus a quick look before turning her eyes to her true opponent. 

Yelling a battle cry, she charged Kronus’s father and attacked him with new found might. The blackhood man’s undead monsters were chomping away on one of the guards, he was certainly dead. But the other guard managed to fire off two quick shots at Kronus’s father.

Kronus’s father managed to block one of them and Melina’s sword thrust all at once with his giant blade, but the other shot hit him on his leg. Somehow the huge man was still alive though, like some sort of demon of death he smacked the Death Bringer blade out of her hands just as Kronus finished reloading his ak47. He slashed at her one more, but she rolled out of the way, dropping a grenade at the huge man’s feet. The grenade went off, and at the same time, Kronus fired an entire clip into the smoke left by the grenade. When the smoke cleared, the huge man lay in a pool of blood, with bullet holes everywhere, dead. As the guards from the town came, they cleared out the left over undead, saving the life of the remaining guard. Kronus smiled at his victory before passing out. They had won.

Kronus woke up to find himself in a warm bed, in the upstairs of Ivarstead’s tavern. On his bedside table lay a fresh tray of breakfast, warm porridge with cinnamon on top, a glass of milk, and some cheese with bread. 

Kronus tried to get out of bed, but immediately felt sharp pain throughout his body, but mainly where he had been shot in the stomach. He couldn’t feel his legs. It was all he could do to catch his breath, his body was exhausted after the life or death battle that ended with the death of his own parents. Kronus was just starting to fall back to sleep, when his mother in law, Melina’s mother came into the room.

“So, your finally awake huh?” His mother in law said, “You’ve been out for days. You know the whole town owes you for this one. I’m sorry that it had to be like this, though who would have known that the kidnappers would be your own parents.”

The elderly woman began feeding the broken man some of the porridge as she talked.

“If your wondering where your wife is, she’s downstairs in her old bedroom. She being taken care of, and seems to be recovering. In the town folks seem to have given you two a new name. They call you the Lightdefenders, because you fought against the blackhood menace and stopped the rise of a Primal. Without you two, the town wouldn’t be the only people that would be suffering. If that Primal had fed on enough life blood and awakened, the whole world would have been in trouble. 

“It was no problem. I would do anything for this village, and to avenge all my friends Melina and me were destined to win this battle. It’s good to see you Emily.” Kronus responded with a small smile.

“Ha! Forever the serious warrior, aren’t you? It really was something valiant that you to did though. Some in the town might even call you heroes. And me included.” laughed the older woman.

Emily began to tear pieces of bread and cheese, and began feeding chunks of the two to Kronus. “Would you like to sit up? If you want I can prop you up if you prefer to eat sitting up rather than lying down.” Emily said as she stirred the bowl of porridge. 

“Yes please,” Kronus said as he closed his eyes, as he listened to the birds outside his bedroom window. Emily took hold of Kronus’s muscular arms and shoulders, and with great strength brought him into a sitting position. What strength, thought Kronus. So that’s how Melina lifted such a big and sword and swung it around as if it was nothing.

Emily went to give Kronus some milk, but being the proud warrior that he was starting to become, he said “Thank you, but I think I can still feed myself.”

“Alright, if you need anything just yell and I’ll come running, ok?” Emily smiled at the bedridden man one more time before heading downstairs to check on her sleeping daughter. 

After the long fight and resting for the last couple days, Kronus was ravenously hungry. Taking a big piece of bread and a large slab of cheese, Kronus chewed it and gulped some of the milk to help it go down. After finishing off the bread and cheese, Kronus went to work on the porridge, eating spoonful after spoonful of the stuff. After finishing his meal, he went back to sleep. 

He slept peacefully until he found himself suddenly at the cave again. He heard the whispering voice of the Primal, no doubt speaking the One Language. He found his body moving on its own, slowly walking into the bloody lake, deeper and deeper. 

He felt hands from deep in the lake grabbing at his feet as he made his way over to the island of bones, the last place he wanted to be. Kronus struggled to control his body, but it was no use. Just like so many years ago, his body was no longer his own. Kronus finally came to the crimson stone. 

Beside the stone were his kneeling his mother and father, in full blackhood garb. They were speaking in the One Language as well, with their eyes closed and a blank expression on their faces. After a good 30 seconds, suddenly, they stopped. He found his body lying his head down against the bloody stone. The Blood Alter. He tried to fight, but he couldn't control himself. The two blackhoods stood up, and his father took out his mega sword. Raising it high above his head he brought it down with amazing force aiming at Kronus’s neck, and......

Kronus woke up in a cold sweat, out of breath. Catching his breath, he looked around himself to see he was still in the upstairs of tavern, in his bed. Instantly he felt relieved. The nightmare had felt far to real. 

Remembering that his blackhood child murdering parents were dead, he felt much better. Smiling to himself, he fell back to sleep, and instead dreamed that he was accessing a realm called the internet, and was writing a story about an unlikely hero, hoping to brush up his writing skills. Although it was a weird ordeal, he slept peacefully throughout the rest of night, and in through part of the morning. 

When he woke up with terrible pain all over his body, especially where he was shot in the stomach. His legs still hurt from when the grenades his mother dropped exploded, and his feet as well. But he was still alive, and at least now he could feel his legs, even if the only feeling he got from them was immense pain. In great effort, he tried to move his body. He found that although the pain was intense, he could still move his legs and arms. He then tried to sit up, feeling horrible pain in his stomach where he had been shot. 

But he managed to get his body in a sitting position. Kronus pushed the bed sheet off his damaged body to find that he was covered with bloody bandages, wearing nothing but his loincloth. Next to his bed he saw a wardrobe. Kronus tried to get out of bed, putting weight on his legs. They could not hold his weight and Kronus fell to the floor with a crash. 

Emily must have heard the crash from downstairs, and immediately came into the room with a frightened look on her face. “Oh no, let me help you with that,” Emily said with a sympathetic frown. Emily picked the big man up with same amazing strength that she had showed earlier, and had him sit on the bed. She then changed his bandages and helped him into a white cotton shirt with grey pants. 

“So, would you like to visit your wife?” Emily asked with a blank expression. 

“Yes,” replied Kronus with a worried look on his face.

Emily helped Kronus down the stairs and into Melina’s bedroom. There was Melina, sitting peacefully on a large bed. By her side was Melina’s father, Ben, and the towns only doctor, Dr. Grenn. Both had bleak expressions, and looked like they hadn’t slept well in days. Kronus was shocked by what he saw. 

Was his wife ok? Would he ever be able to feel her calming presence at his side again? Kronus began to feel great sadness and emptiness. He would never be the same without her. But then he felt anger. 

Anger at the blackhoods, and his father and mother in particular. He even felt anger at the Primal, even knowing that he would never stand a chance at a being so far above him. Kronus thought that his desire for vengeance would leave him after he defeated the murder of his friends and fellow villagers. But the cycle of his endless vengeance had just begun. 

He would destroy the cult that had hurt his wife, friends, and village. And he would crush anyone who might get in his way. Kronus asked, “Will Melina be alright?” Silence perforated the room before the doctor finally spoke. 

“Things look grave for Melina, she has been in a coma for five days,” the doctor said bleakly, “There is little we can do for her, and her wounds are........ life threatening. And she seems to have been poisoned.The chances of her survival are slim at best.”

“Is there anything I can do for her?” Kronus asked, almost begging.

“Yes,” replied the doctor. “Over one of the mountains that surrounds this valley, is a small shack, the woman who lives there is known as the Healer. It is rumored that she has the ability in control magic, and is able to cure illnesses, remedy poisons, and heal wounds with her magical abilities and her staff. She is the one person that I think could save your wive’s life. But the way to the shack of the Healer is dangerous, there are many dangerous beings out there in the wilderness, anything from man eating bears, to bandits, to undead soldiers, to trolls. Will you do it? You might not make it back, even with your skills.”

“I will do it,” responded Kronus defiantly. “Whatever it takes to make my wife well again.”

“Ok, I will wait here and do my best to help Melina until you come back from your adventure,” The good doctor said.

“Wait,” said Emily, “Your wounds haven’t healed,” She said with a frown.

“I will make do,” replied the bandaged warrior.

“Wait,” said Ben, Melina’s father. “Your going to need help” The two men smiled at each other, not needing to exchange words.

Ben handed Kronus his ak47, full loaded. Ben then took the Death Bringer sword that Melina always used.  The two put on leather armor and were ready to go. Ben stocked up on throwing knifes, and put a few small wicked looking daggers in his belt. Kronus attached a dozen grenades to his. Then the two made their way out of the tavern. 

People smiled as they passed, a few of the townsfolk greeted them saying things like “praise the Lightdefender”, and “thank you for saving our village.” The way they were treating him was very different from what he was used to, but then again that was when he was still the outcast who had killed Chris. 

Now he was the savior of the town. Funny how things could change like this, thought Kronus, and he found himself smiling and waving too. Kronus took a look at the hardened man beside him, only to see a determined look on his face. He looked like he was more than ready to save his daughter. And so the two made their way out of the town and into the forest surrounding them. 

Their adventure had begun.

The two traveling companions were deathly quiet as they made their way into the forest. They followed a heavily worn road used mainly by traders, surrounded by a thick, and wild forest. Kronus did not know Ben well enough to call him family or even friend, the two were never close. He was much closer with Emily, Melina’s mother. But there must have been some reason for why Ben decided to tag along with Kronus on this quest. 

Truth be told, Ben loved his daughter absolutely and completely, and he would risk anything to save her. As they made their way through the forest, there was an awkward silence between the two. Finally, the awkward atmosphere around the two forced Ben to say something. “So, do you like my wife’s cooking?” Ben asked politely, halfheartedly.

The two engaged in mindless small talk, talking about people in the village, experiences they had, and other trivial matters. But the one thing they wouldn’t talk about was Melina. Never Melina. The pain the two felt over the fact that Melina was dying, and the fact that there was no way to be sure that she would survive even if the Healer was to come to treat her was horrible. 

The hopelessness they felt in this situation may not have been noticed if you were listening in on their conversation, they wouldn’t show it. But if you looked closer, you could see the despair that haunted the two men, and the bitter emptiness of their words. As the two walked along the path, a different story was being told somewhere else.

Melina opened her sleepy eyes to a city full of buildings bigger than any that she had ever seen before. The sights of great sky scrapers and buildings with many floors and windows surrounded her. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. But how did she get here? The last thing she could remember was the fight with the child murdering blackhoods, who just so happened to be Kronus’s parents. How was she here? Hadn’t they won? Where was Kronus? And what was she wearing? 

She was wearing a set of armor made out of steel and leather, when she was sure what she wore last was a worn in suit of leather with iron studs for defense. This pair of armor was far above the price that someone like Melina could buy, being only the daughter of tavern owners. And the blade of her sword Death Bringer was clean and sharp as ever. Melina heard murmuring in the distance, in a deep inhuman voice, but couldn’t make out any words. 

But the city was completely empty. 

In this whole city, there only seemed to be one living person. Her. She walked through the city, and saw many strange sights. There was no grass or trees of any kind. Just her and her city. It was so empty it was almost like a ghost town. Nobody lived here. Melina began searching the city, looking for a way out, or something or someone who could tell her where she was. 

“Wondering where you are, sweety?” asked a strange voice from up above.

Melina looked up at an 8 story building window, as a young woman jumped out, somersaulting through the air only to land at Melina’s feet without a scratch, and with a big smile on her face. Quick as she could, Melina drew Death Bringer, waiting for the girl to explain herself. 

The girl wore the same armor as Melina, and had a sword of the same length and size. The girl’s skin was pure white. The only difference between their swords was that her’s was blood red, and her armor was pure black. “I am Anilem,” said the girl, “And this,” Anilem motioned at the city itself, “is the city of your soul.”

Meanwhile, back where Kronus and Ben were, an ambush was waiting for them.

Gaffer was a bandit. Being born to poor parents in a big city in the country Morthal, he had been forced to steal from a young age in order to survive. As he grew older he turned to mugging people in the alleyways. After a rich man he tried to mug on day wouldn’t hand over his valuables without a fight, he ended up killing the man. Things went downhill after that. 

The body was found the next morning, and eventually Gaffer was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Prison toughened an already tough man into a monster, and Gaffer was known to instigate fights in the prison and could hold his own. 

Finally, when he was released, he was caught again mugging a man and his wife, but this time Gaffer lost the fight, with a large cut across his face and one of his eyes. He would forever have this wound on his face as a scar, and would be unable to see out of his right eye. The ugly scar helped him remember his undying hatred for the world around him. Especially the rich. This time rather than to keep Gaffer in jail for a time, only for him to come out later and cause more havoc, he was offered two choices. 

Be exiled permanently from all of Morthal, or be executed. So Gaffer choose to become an exile. Leaving his elderly parents to search for a new home, Gaffer lost the only thing that truly meant anything to him other than money. 

Gaffer went on to join a band of slave traders and bandits, who made a living off robbing travelers, and then sold them as slaves to neighboring lands. Far away from any form of law, the group practically owned the mountains around Ivarstead. 

Gaffer had seen the two warriors Kronus and Ben make their way out of the city, and acting as a scout informed the others in his bandit group of the two warriors. And so a group of about a dozen bandits lay in wait, hiding in the forest near the path with crossbows, guns, and rusty scimitars at the ready. Meanwhile Gaffer followed the two, with a sniper rifle at the ready should he need it.

Ben and Kronus had begun to tire of talking as they walked through the forest on the gravelly white path. Suddenly Ben stopped. Kronus was about to ask Ben why he was stopping, but then out of nowhere Ben yelled, 

“SCATTER!”

Knowing to trust the older man’s reflexes, Kronus did a neat roll into the forest just in time to miss a shot from a sniper rifle that would have hit him right in the head. And then he saw them. A gang of a dozen or so men wearing beaten armor of many different colors and sizes and types. They had to be bandits, Kronus thought. 

He hid behind a tree as many bullets flew by him, and drew his ak47. He noticed that the tough old man was still in the middle of the road, expertly dodging and blocking bullets with his sword, with the skill of someone who had many years to perfect his technique. However, Ben knew he was also the perfect distraction, thought Kronus with a smile. Taking one of the 12 grenades from his belt, he threw one into a group of four bandits. They tried to scatter but were too late. The grenade killed one of the bandits, while another two were injured. 

The remaining soldier got up and shot back at Kronus, grazing his leg before he could get to cover. Kronus heard the sound of wood cracking, he looked up behind him to see that a sniper bullet from Gaffer had just barely missed his skull. Nowhere was safe. Ben’s dodges became more and more sloppy as the older man ran out of endurance. He was even failing to stop a bullet with his sword in time, and got hit hard in the shoulder, blood already beginning to flow. While they were both great warriors, they were hopelessly outnumbered, and the only outcome in this fight would be death. 

Ben must have realized this, because he yelled “RUN! RUN INTO THE WOODS!” Kronus threw one more grenade for good measure, and Ben dropped a smoke bomb. Running past Kronus, he whispered loudly “this way”. And Kronus, trusting the instinct of Ben, followed.

It wasn’t long before the two had no idea where they were. They were completely lost in the dark gloomy forest. “Well, we may be lost, but we certainly lost them!” Exclaimed Kronus, grinning cheerfully. Ben smiled faintly, but said nothing. Before they even knew it, the two were becoming closer and closer to being friends. 

The air was getting colder, and the sky was dark. A crescent moon could be seen over the trees in the distance. “Well, I think we did good for today. It’s time for a break. I can only hope we will be this lucky tomorrow as well.” Ben said smiling. The two lay down their sleeping bags, but lit no fire. That would make them sitting ducks for the bandits. “Goodnight father,” Said Kronus before falling asleep.

Melina didn't understand. She just couldn't comprehend her surroundings. The city of my soul? Thought Melina. 

“You can’t be serious,” Melina said, “I’m inside my soul?”

“Have you heard the story of the King and the Horse?” Asked Anilem, completely ignoring Melina’s question.

“No, but --” Melina was cut off,

“It goes a little something like this. When there are two rivals in one soul that need to work together to fight for what they believe in, they play this game. They fight. And whoever dies first is forced to live inside the soul of the other, never coming to the surface. They become a power source for the stronger being, simply lending their strength to the stronger being. They are only a Horse. And the stronger being is named the King. So, do you want to play?” Anilem smirked at Melina.

“No, I just want to--” “I DON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!” Anilem yelled as she drew her red Death Bringer.

Anilem was the first to strike, drawing her red Death Bringer with amazing speed, and swinging it with the strength of a demon. Over powered by Anilem’s sheer strength, Melina’s sword was knocked out of her hand and hit a nearby building so hard it was imbedded in the brick work. Melina tried to draw a small dagger from her belt but Anilem smacked it out of her hands with a flick of the wrist without a problem, so fast that Melina could only see a blur. 

It skidded across the road in the opposite direction of her sword. Anilem grabbed Melina by the neck with inhuman strength, lifting her off the ground with only one hand. She smiled at her early victory as she cut off her opponents’ breathing. Melina squirmed under the grip of her enemy, desperate for a breath. Out of tricks and weapons, Melina clawed at Anilem’s hands, but to no avail.

“Over so soon?” Chided Anilem. “How sad, I was hoping to enjoy this fight. To believe someone like you could ever be king. How pathetic.”

Anilem tightened her grip until it was hard as iron. Still holding her red Death Bringer in her other hand, she stabbed it all the way through Melina’s stomach, and out of her back. Melina’s body oozed blood on the road below them, and within a few seconds a small puddle began to form beneath her body. 

Finally, Anilem let go of Melina’s throat, and she fell to the floor gasping for breath. As Melina lay dying, Anilem’s smile turned into that of a full out grin. It would have looked beautiful on her face, if it wasn’t so full of psychotic and murderous intent. 

“Now, how shall I finish you off?” Anilem mumbled to herself.

Her eyes turned to Melina’s Death Bringer sword embedded in brick work. Her smile became so wide it took up half her face. Her expression was one of utter madness. You could feel and see how much excitement she felt over finishing off her King.

Anilem made her way over to the sword, pulling it out of the brick wall of the building. Immediately the sword’s color changed from a dull silver to the same blood red color of Anilem’s own sword.

As Melina lay dying on the ground, she looked around her with her eyes, desperate to find something, anything, that she could use to win this fight. But she saw nothing. This time there was no salvation. No way to win this fight. 

There has to be a way! 

There must be some way I can win this..... Thought Melina to herself. I want to win! I have to win! There is no other way, I won’t die from this, not after all that I’ve done. Kronus is waiting for me. I just know it. Melina thought to herself with great enthusiasm. She would not lose this fight. Melina, with great effort made herself into a sitting position.

Anilem looked back at Melina, surprised by Melina’s sheer willpower. The agony Melina felt in her stomach was unbearable, but she tried her best to ignore the intense pain that she felt. She then forced her body to stand. She drew from her belt two short daggers, and forced herself into a fighting position. If this world is my own soul, should I not be able to have some control over it? As she bleed out, Melina thought back to a dream she had in the past, the same dream that she had had for months after the death of her three friends.

It had been three months since the death’s of Seth, Angel, and Chris, and Melina still had the memories of their deaths fresh in her mind. Almost every day she found herself crying uncontrollably. The hatred she felt from the townsfolk was horrible. The only people that still trusted her were her parents and her loyal friend Kronus. Every day that passed was horrible. But the worst part of it all wasn’t the day, it was the night that was the real problem. During the night Melina would have horrible dreams. Every night she went through absolute hell.

Melina had been awake all night, crying. Feeling freezing cold and hot at the same time, she was sweating. Ever since that night she hadn’t been able to sleep. But as Melina sat alone in the darkness, she finally found herself drifting off to sleep just after midnight. 

She awoke to find herself in the cave once more. She heard the laughter of her friends deeper into the cave. Like every night, she could not control her body or any part of the dream, and was forced to follow the laughter. As she walked through the cave, she slushed through the warm liquid lake that she had went through the night her friends died. Of course, the liquid lake wasn’t a lake of water. It was a lake of blood. 

The first one she saw was Angel. She hung from the ceiling from a rope by her neck, her eyes open so wide it was unnatural. Her tongue hung out of her mouth, saliva dripping into the lake. She just hung there. Dead. Melina's eyes wide, tears began to fall into the lake. As Melina walked deeper into the lake, she saw the next body. It was Chris. On top of a stone that looked all to familiar, he sat there. Blood poured from his throat, where he had been mutilated by Seth’s hunting knife. 

“Why couldn’t you save me?” Whispered Chris, crying with a look so full of sorrow that it could make even a warrior cry. “I was your best friend..... Don’t you care about me? WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME??!”

Melina tried to pull her eyes away and said, "I'm so sorry, I promise, I-I didn't mean to!"

But she had no control over her body and moved onward farther into the cave of nightmares. Sobbing quietly, she came to the next body. The cave opened up, and suddenly she was outside again. She was instantly relieved until she saw the body of Seth, dead at the bottom of the same cliff that he had jumped off of 3 months ago. 

Melina looked up to see her friend Kronus. She was so happy to see him, that she ran to him, and gave him a hug. She looked up into his eyes in time to see his blank stare, and a crooked smile on his face. “It isn’t over,” Kronus whispered into her ear. Then he pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head. And just like that he fell to the ground, blood covering his head and pouring endlessly all over the ground.  All her friends. Dead all over again. And she just lost it. 

“I won’t let you push me around! I’M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!!!” shouted Melina.

And she pictured in her head her tavern home, all her friends and her back at home. Yes. Nothing was wrong at all. All I need is to calm down. And to Melina’s surprise, it worked. And she and her friends enjoyed a nice meal of roasted chicken, corn, and warm apple pie for dessert. The next morning Melina woke up well rested. She could now control her dreams, and she never had a nightmare again.

Melina remembered all this as she bleed. And she thought, maybe, just maybe, her control over dreams could work inside her soul just as well. And so, she closed her eyes, and imagined her wounds healed. She opened her eyes to see that nothing had changed. Well, at least it was worth a try, thought Melina. And she smiled as Anilem cut of her head with one clean strike of her sword. At peace with herself, she wished to welcome the abyss of death. And everything was engulfed in darkness.

Melina saw a light in the distance, a campfire. She could hear the crackle of fire on wood in the distance, and followed it only to see her three friends again, Seth, Angel and even Chris. All around the fire, sitting close to it for warm. And just like they looked like they did the night before they died. The three didn’t look at all surprised to see her, but boy was she surprised to see them. 

“Seth, Angel, Chris! I can’t believe it’s you! ..... But how is this possible.” Exclaimed Melina.

Chris answered, “We were called back from the afterlife to see you,” he said. “Your not supposed to lose this fight.”

“You can’t die yet,” added Angel.

“We will give you what little strength we still have. Good luck.” Said Seth with a knowing smile. Like he knew everything that ever was, is, or will be.

“Goodbye Melina. And godspeed.” Murmured Seth.

The three spirits and the fire came together to form one ball of energy in the black darkness of death. And it entered Melina’s very being.

She woke up to find herself once again in the city of her soul. Anilem stood holding Melina’s still severed head, laughing so loud it was almost demonic. Anilem turned around and saw Melina, in full battle armor, with a new Death Bringer to boot. 

“HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE??! I KILLED YOU WITH YOUR OWN SWORD!” Anilem screamed.

Melina just smiled as she threw three hidden daggers with all of her might. The blades flew through the air as fast as a bullet. Melina was not surprised at all about her new found strength. There was no way she could lose after being blessed by the spirits of her dead friends. The daggers hit true, hitting Anilem’s right arm. Anilem dropped one of the two red Death Bringers she held, her arm bleeding and useless by her side. 

Crying out in agony, she ran at Melina, and swung her sword. Only to be cut in half, along with her sword. Anilem was strong, but Melina was on a whole different level. With the strength of the three souls of her friends, she was almost untouchable. And she would not lose. As Anilem’s upper half sat of the ground bleeding, she started laughing. 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.” Anilem giggled madly.

Melina was surprised, maybe even frightened. Who would laugh at their own death?

“You may have got me this time girly, but it isn’t over. The next time you are near death, and don’t have the strength to go on, I will throw you off my back, just like a horse, and trample you underneath my feet until you are nothing but a bloody stain on the ground.” Anilem coughs blood up, and spits a thick wad of it at Melina, just before dying.

Her body dissolves into nothing, leaving no more than a red Death Bringer and it’s sheath, that Melina puts on her back along with her own Death Bringer. So that’s it huh? I won. Thought Melina. 

“I WON!”

She shouts out happily, so much so that she almost cries. Until she realizes that she can’t come back, and she won’t wake up. And looks up above the city of her soul as she sees a dark shadow fall over her soul, and intense cold wind blows through the empty city. And she hears a muttering voice speaking in gibberish. One far to familiar. And she feels fear because she knows just what is making this noise, and she looks up slowly..... to see the massive head of the Primal, a beast unlike any she had ever seen. Stronger than any man, woman, or even a god. And she screams as the muttering turns into horrible, inhuman laughter. There was no hope for Melina. The Primal had risen.