ACT VI
THE AGE OF UNDEAD
Hans had planned something. Abducting Kerym through Xandor was the first step. Framing him was another, but Xandor was not someone who could be baited that easily. So he needs Kerym to say something unshakeable, the secrets that got the boy named Dave killed and ended Vanessa in that state.
“Red demon trials.” He spoke hoping Kerym to pick up the hint.
The cold words entered his ears, and Kerym stammered, “Is… this… about the experiments? It’s…It’s not my doing, I don’t have any part in that, it all Torceran—
Hans pierced the dagger up beneath his chin. Taking his ability to speak further. “Yeah, you know too much.” He turned to Xandor and to his surprise, Xandor’s face was blatantly saying how baffled he was. “Hook line and sinker, I caught a big bad fish.”
Now he has no reason stopping him from killing this monster. He imagined Vanessa’s succumbed face, the feeling of fear she must’ve felt just by in the same space as Kerym. His hand moved like a snake slithering over.As it reached Kerym's knees, “Slash!” With a quick and surgical movement, he severed the leg instantly.
“Agh..” Kerym cried, but Hans had neither compassion in his eyes nor any pity for the squirming elf. “You know, it's not your fault that you ended up like this. No. No. No..” Hans shook his head gesturing, “It's your family’s fault that fuelled that mind of yours to look down on others.”
As the blood was gushing out from his severed thigh, a vine slithered, and coiled around, stopping most of the flow. However, Hans found himself doing the same to his other leg, severing it by the knee.
“Commander Dijkstra.” Hans asked, his voice carrying an undeniable authority, “What is the punishment in Parv for molesters?”
“Severing their family jewels,” Dijkstra answered promptly.
“I thought so,” Hans declared and as his voice fell to the ears of screaming Kerym, so did the dagger on his balls. “Judgement has come for you, may you suffer an eternity,” Hans whispered, gagging Kerym. “I’m not done yet.” The quick stabs rained on Kerym’s lied body, all avoiding vital spots. “You’ve some persistence, I’ll give you that.” Hans turned his body, his hived chest kissing the ground. Then Kerym lost his hands through the elbow and as the blood gushed out from them so did his life. He was dead, pale like someone had drained him out.
“I’m getting sick of this,” Hans stated, wiping the splatters from his face. “But I have to do one last thing.” He held the dagger tip like a pen and started carving something on Kerym’s face.
After he was done, Dijkstra peeked and read the words, “JONIK.”
Surprised by the act, he asked, “Why did you write that, carving that bastard’s name?” Dijkstra asked but Hans wasn’t going to answer that. He turned to Xandor, “Now, I can focus on our deal.” He released his pent-up breath and continued, “Your turn first, Commander Xandor.”
“I don’t know what kind of bone you had to pick with a shadow Family. But revenge begets revenge, kid—”
“Tells me the man who is dead set on revenge himself.”
“Exactly my point, it is too late for me but you can stop.”
“If I wanted some life lessons, I wouldn’t have come to you, right?” Hans pointed out, “Now shall we move on to business.” Hans flashed the coordinate stone and the jewel Delimira brought out from the treasury. “This is not a fairytale, you get what you account for. My turn will eventually come, as yours too.”
Hans looked straight at Xandor, his face still covered in mystery, “Let's exchange our items and be on our merry way.”
Xandor nodded, affirming but Hans, yet again stopped, “Just asking, what do you plan on doing with a sword you can’t use?”
“What do you plan on doing with a book you can’t read?” Xandor quipped.
“Fair point.” Hans lifted his hand, asking if he could receive the book first and apparently Xandor had no issue with that. He swung a leather waist bag, far smaller on the eyes but filled with the things inside, “A space bag?” Hans said opening it, fetching the book and skimming it for surety. “Am I supposed to return it?” He asked flashing the bag, his intent written on his face.
“No, take it as a gift… for your discretion.”
“I’m getting a feeling that I’m gonna so regret this choice…” Hans threw the coordinate stone as well as its partner jewel, and finalised the transaction. “Just what is that you seek,” He asked Xandor, clarifying, “I mean what is your ultimate goal here? I can’t help but get curious. You don’t have to answer if—”
“A revolution. That's what I seek.”
“From what?” Hans ridiculed.
“From Elven Lies,” Xandor said, expanding his mana, the deathly vibes veiling the whole meadows.
“That fucker is crazy!” Dijkstra held Hans by the waist and disappeared before Xandor could get more annoying. They were quite far from the southern meadows. “What was that?” Hans asked Dijkstra prompting him to respond, “That was him saying get the fuck out of my face—”
“No, not that! Elven Lies?”
“That, I’ve no clue about.” Dijkstra shook his head, adding, “We should get out of here—”
“Then who knows? Arat?” Hans asked as Dijkstra leapt from space again and again. This would have interested him previously, but the word ‘Elven Lies’ had him hooked. Looking at Hans shooting the stars from his eyes, even Sad Death, quivered, “No not him but Osiris, the temple must have those answers…Wait…you haven’t answered, why did you carve that Jonik’s name”
“Oh! That,” Hans breathed in and explained, “Our ancestors did some bloody work in the past. That was one way of declaring that revenge had served and life was paid for the life he took.” Hans grinned, adding, “And we need a motive for why Xandor killed Kerym. They will doubt that Jonik may have joined Eclipse and got killed by Kerym. Then Xandor enacted the revenge. It's a full package, don’t you think?”
SOUTH OF THE CAPITAL, THE MEADOWS.
“Commander, the preparation has been completed.” A man appeared, an elf by race but by loyalty, he was the latest captain of Eclipse. The benefactor who sent Vanir to Concordia.
“Good job, Onas.” Xandor replied, asking, “So how is your nephew? Did you bid him farewell?”
“Yes. This will probably be the last time I get to see him. I wish I could bring him with us—”
“No, he has his own story to write.” Xandor declared, “We are starting tomorrow—”
“Pardon me asking, but why not now?” Onas asked curious, they were ready for the next phase so sudden delay left him confused.
“Hm..” Xandor responded, pointing at the bloody work of Hans “You see, a little brat has thrown me a bait and I have no choice but to fall for it. Quite clever, aye.”
“You seem oddly happy, willingly falling into the trap.”
“It's not a trap but a scheme and yes, It makes me happy because I have no choice but to fall. How many do you know think can manipulate me like this?”
“Probably, none commander.”
“Right. So I’m gonna give him a return gift. That is why we are doing our thing tomorrow.” Xandor came to the dead Kerym and spread his dark mana on the corpse. With a voice that resonated like the echoes of the dead, he called, “Return.”
His fingers traced some sigils, a dark luminescence circle formed beneath the corpse, with six concentric circles, indicating that the spell was a sixth circle. As it reached their crescendo, a black otherworldy mist began to seep from the mage’s body, swirling around. His hand moved again, but this time with a deliberate grace, coaxing the essence of death to lift the corpse, attaching his detached limbs.
The body trembled as if caught between two worlds, and then, with a sudden, jerking motion, the mage’s eyes snapped open, glowing in an unholy light. It was not himself, but a puppet of Xandor’s dark mana. “You have a lot to tell, Kerym Rotti. Start with what Experiments Torceran is up to?”
This was a solid plan to frame the already missing Jonik and it was guaranteed that Xandor would not leave any trace of his magic used in this location so Hans wouldn't be found out. But he had underestimated Xandor. A few Hours later, the guard knights barged into Concordia’s castle. “Hans Richardson,” they asked for his name and when Hans was brought down. They slapped some sort of document at his face, adding, “You are under arrest for the murder of Kerym Rotti.”
ACT VI
THE AGE OF UNDEAD
Hans had planned something. Abducting Kerym through Xandor was the first step. Framing him was another, but Xandor was not someone who could be baited that easily. So he needs Kerym to say something unshakeable, the secrets that got the boy named Dave killed and ended Vanessa in that state.
“Red demon trials.” He spoke hoping Kerym to pick up the hint.
The cold words entered his ears, and Kerym stammered, “Is… this… about the experiments? It’s…It’s not my doing, I don’t have any part in that, it all Torceran—
Hans pierced the dagger up beneath his chin. Taking his ability to speak further. “Yeah, you know too much.” He turned to Xandor and to his surprise, Xandor’s face was blatantly saying how baffled he was. “Hook line and sinker, I caught a big bad fish.”
Now he has no reason stopping him from killing this monster. He imagined Vanessa’s succumbed face, the feeling of fear she must’ve felt just by in the same space as Kerym. His hand moved like a snake slithering over.As it reached Kerym's knees, “Slash!” With a quick and surgical movement, he severed the leg instantly.
“Agh..” Kerym cried, but Hans had neither compassion in his eyes nor any pity for the squirming elf. “You know, it's not your fault that you ended up like this. No. No. No..” Hans shook his head gesturing, “It's your family’s fault that fuelled that mind of yours to look down on others.”
As the blood was gushing out from his severed thigh, a vine slithered, and coiled around, stopping most of the flow. However, Hans found himself doing the same to his other leg, severing it by the knee.
“Commander Dijkstra.” Hans asked, his voice carrying an undeniable authority, “What is the punishment in Parv for molesters?”
“Severing their family jewels,” Dijkstra answered promptly.
“I thought so,” Hans declared and as his voice fell to the ears of screaming Kerym, so did the dagger on his balls. “Judgement has come for you, may you suffer an eternity,” Hans whispered, gagging Kerym. “I’m not done yet.” The quick stabs rained on Kerym’s lied body, all avoiding vital spots. “You’ve some persistence, I’ll give you that.” Hans turned his body, his hived chest kissing the ground. Then Kerym lost his hands through the elbow and as the blood gushed out from them so did his life. He was dead, pale like someone had drained him out.
“I’m getting sick of this,” Hans stated, wiping the splatters from his face. “But I have to do one last thing.” He held the dagger tip like a pen and started carving something on Kerym’s face.
After he was done, Dijkstra peeked and read the words, “JONIK.”
Surprised by the act, he asked, “Why did you write that, carving that bastard’s name?” Dijkstra asked but Hans wasn’t going to answer that. He turned to Xandor, “Now, I can focus on our deal.” He released his pent-up breath and continued, “Your turn first, Commander Xandor.”
“I don’t know what kind of bone you had to pick with a shadow Family. But revenge begets revenge, kid—”
“Tells me the man who is dead set on revenge himself.”
“Exactly my point, it is too late for me but you can stop.”
“If I wanted some life lessons, I wouldn’t have come to you, right?” Hans pointed out, “Now shall we move on to business.” Hans flashed the coordinate stone and the jewel Delimira brought out from the treasury. “This is not a fairytale, you get what you account for. My turn will eventually come, as yours too.”
Hans looked straight at Xandor, his face still covered in mystery, “Let's exchange our items and be on our merry way.”
Xandor nodded, affirming but Hans, yet again stopped, “Just asking, what do you plan on doing with a sword you can’t use?”
“What do you plan on doing with a book you can’t read?” Xandor quipped.
“Fair point.” Hans lifted his hand, asking if he could receive the book first and apparently Xandor had no issue with that. He swung a leather waist bag, far smaller on the eyes but filled with the things inside, “A space bag?” Hans said opening it, fetching the book and skimming it for surety. “Am I supposed to return it?” He asked flashing the bag, his intent written on his face.
“No, take it as a gift… for your discretion.”
“I’m getting a feeling that I’m gonna so regret this choice…” Hans threw the coordinate stone as well as its partner jewel, and finalised the transaction. “Just what is that you seek,” He asked Xandor, clarifying, “I mean what is your ultimate goal here? I can’t help but get curious. You don’t have to answer if—”
“A revolution. That's what I seek.”
“From what?” Hans ridiculed.
“From Elven Lies,” Xandor said, expanding his mana, the deathly vibes veiling the whole meadows.
“That fucker is crazy!” Dijkstra held Hans by the waist and disappeared before Xandor could get more annoying. They were quite far from the southern meadows. “What was that?” Hans asked Dijkstra prompting him to respond, “That was him saying get the fuck out of my face—”
“No, not that! Elven Lies?”
“That, I’ve no clue about.” Dijkstra shook his head, adding, “We should get out of here—”
“Then who knows? Arat?” Hans asked as Dijkstra leapt from space again and again. This would have interested him previously, but the word ‘Elven Lies’ had him hooked. Looking at Hans shooting the stars from his eyes, even Sad Death, quivered, “No not him but Osiris, the temple must have those answers…Wait…you haven’t answered, why did you carve that Jonik’s name”
“Oh! That,” Hans breathed in and explained, “Our ancestors did some bloody work in the past. That was one way of declaring that revenge had served and life was paid for the life he took.” Hans grinned, adding, “And we need a motive for why Xandor killed Kerym. They will doubt that Jonik may have joined Eclipse and got killed by Kerym. Then Xandor enacted the revenge. It's a full package, don’t you think?”
SOUTH OF THE CAPITAL, THE MEADOWS.
“Commander, the preparation has been completed.” A man appeared, an elf by race but by loyalty, he was the latest captain of Eclipse. The benefactor who sent Vanir to Concordia.
“Good job, Onas.” Xandor replied, asking, “So how is your nephew? Did you bid him farewell?”
“Yes. This will probably be the last time I get to see him. I wish I could bring him with us—”
“No, he has his own story to write.” Xandor declared, “We are starting tomorrow—”
“Pardon me asking, but why not now?” Onas asked curious, they were ready for the next phase so sudden delay left him confused.
“Hm..” Xandor responded, pointing at the bloody work of Hans “You see, a little brat has thrown me a bait and I have no choice but to fall for it. Quite clever, aye.”
“You seem oddly happy, willingly falling into the trap.”
“It's not a trap but a scheme and yes, It makes me happy because I have no choice but to fall. How many do you know think can manipulate me like this?”
“Probably, none commander.”
“Right. So I’m gonna give him a return gift. That is why we are doing our thing tomorrow.” Xandor came to the dead Kerym and spread his dark mana on the corpse. With a voice that resonated like the echoes of the dead, he called, “Return.”
His fingers traced some sigils, a dark luminescence circle formed beneath the corpse, with six concentric circles, indicating that the spell was a sixth circle. As it reached their crescendo, a black otherworldy mist began to seep from the mage’s body, swirling around. His hand moved again, but this time with a deliberate grace, coaxing the essence of death to lift the corpse, attaching his detached limbs.
The body trembled as if caught between two worlds, and then, with a sudden, jerking motion, the mage’s eyes snapped open, glowing in an unholy light. It was not himself, but a puppet of Xandor’s dark mana. “You have a lot to tell, Kerym Rotti. Start with what Experiments Torceran is up to?”
This was a solid plan to frame the already missing Jonik and it was guaranteed that Xandor would not leave any trace of his magic used in this location so Hans wouldn't be found out. But he had underestimated Xandor. A few Hours later, the guard knights barged into Concordia’s castle. “Hans Richardson,” they asked for his name and when Hans was brought down. They slapped some sort of document at his face, adding, “You are under arrest for the murder of Kerym Rotti.”
