Selene…
“Let’s push through!” she shouted and Marcus followed behind her while Artemis ran side by side with her.
As continued to run through the forest more and more Draugr clawed their way out of the dirt. She found it shocking how this many corpses could have remained buried here for so long without anyone noticing but then again, no one came this deep into the mountain. Everyone in Lunaas could feel the unsettling and ominous energy emitting from Malthael's massive corpse.
As they were approaching a clearing with the fortress in the distance a large gathering of Draugr huddled together and formed a wall fifty feet wide.
Just as Selene was about to charge up an attack Marcus ran right in front of her and pulled his sword back. His right hand gripped the sword tightly as his left traced the blade and he covered its edge in electricity and black stone. He then swing Light Taker in a wide arc and Lightning and Dragon Glass cleaved through the hordes of Draugr as their armor were shredded into pieces and their bones shattered into dust.
As Selene watched him tear through that small army she couldn't help but be reminded of Kayron. He had used a similar technique in the past to try and kill her.
"Marcus, was that...?" she tried to say but she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"I stole that from Kayron, yeah. I figured that the best way to fight against your enemies is to learn from them and use what they know against them," he said as she caught up to him.
"Now is not the time to talk about this! We need to move!" Artemis shouted as she took the lead and they followed after her.
Alta...
As the army of Draugr started closing in on them he didn't feel any fear despite the situation. Usually whenever he put himself in danger or took on missions that he was afraid that he would end up dead or that he would lose an arm or be injured so bad he wouldn't be able to move again but now...now he felt a rush that he hadn't felt in so long. He felt like he could take on anything at this point.
Gaiyen however seemed a little more cautious for once.
"Uh...Alta? I don't know if it was such a good idea to come with them. There's a shit load of Draugr here. I don't think the two of us will be enough to take them all."
"Oh come on! Aren't you the one usually ragging on me for not putting in enough effort? We can do this! Besides, if even a single one of these things makes it into town then we could have another outbreak on our hands! Selene is depending on us!"
Hearing that last sentence come from Alta's mouth Gaiyen's head spun to look at him in shock. Alta himself was also surprised to hear himself say that. Never did he think that he would think of Selene depending on him to be a good thing but its how he felt about the situation. He felt needed and he wanted to make good on his word to her that they would take care of this mess.
Alta flicked his wrists and swung his arms out wide and two longswords of ice manifested in his hands.
"Come on you undead shits!" he shouted as his adrenaline took over and he charged at the small army of Draugr surrounding them.
Gaiyen shook his head but grinned nonetheless as he ran to his side and slammed his fist into an undead holding up a shield. Gaiyen's fist moved like a blur for a split second and the shield crumpled like paper under the force of his punch before a small shockwave exploded from the force of his strike.
"Holy...when did you learn to do that?!" Alta asked genuinely impressed as he sliced the torso off of one of the Draugr charging him with a spear. His swords of ice cut through them easily and froze their bones so thoroughly that they couldn't reform as their joints were locked in place.
"Hah! Learned it from Marcus! He knows a thing or two about gravity magic it seems!" Gaiyen cackled as he jumped over the heads of the Draugr as if floating before slamming back down on top of them. The moment he made impact Alta could feel the gravity increase around them but it didn't affect him nearly as much as it did the Draugr. The undead shuffled forward as if they were wearing weighted clothing.
Fighting with the gravity increased around them made it seem like he was cutting down stationary targets and the two of them waded through the numbers without any resistance.
For a moment it looked like the two of them would make short work of all of the Draugr and things would be over soon but then...then Alta sensed something that caused a chill to run down his spine.
Alta looked in the direction of that chilling aura and he saw something that truly terrified him.
Its bones were charred black as a thin layer of flames flared from its body. It was completely naked from head to toe but the aura of white flames circulating around it mixed with black roots made it look like it was covered in exposed muscles. Its eye sockets were filled with intense burning flames that glowed white. Its body was morphed to having fangs, claws, and an extra set of bones shaped into blades protruding from its forearms.
It was a...
"Dragon Wraith!" Gaiyen shouted in surprise with broke Alta out of his state of shock.
Of all the things they had to face, a wraith was one of the things he hoped never to come across but a Dragon Wraith...that was worse in every way imaginable.
It locked eyes with him and Alta took an involuntary step back but tried to swallow his fear and took two steps forward instead to face it.
"Gaiyen! Try to thin out the Draugr! I'll keep this thing busy until we can both take it down!" he shouted with determination in his voice but Gaiyen wasn't having it.
"Hell no! You can't hold that thing back on your own!"
"JUST DO IT GAIYEN!" he said as he charged before pulling back his right arm. He then thrusted it forward and a blizzard of ice buffeted the Dragon Wraith. It responded to the assault with a roar and tried to push its way through the icy winds but Alta was managing to keep it at bay for the moment.
Gaiyen ignored Alta and pushed him aside as he slammed his fist into the Dragon Wraith and sent it flying far away from the both of them.
"We can worry about fighting that thing later! We need to get rid of these Draugr first! I'll slow them down and you attack!"
He was frustrated that Gaiyen interrupted his fight but Alta knew he was right. They had to deal with things here first.
Inside the fortress…
Jiroh held the last of their prisoners they had taken from Lunaas by the back of his neck as spiritual energy flowed from his mouth and into the pool of Malthael’s blood mixed with diamond sand and other ingredients required for the final step. The past two years of traveling with his remaining forces from Mordran while hiding from the Eleum army had been difficult and that woman Artemis as she was called made things even more difficult but in the end, even with her small group of allies, it won't be enough to stop him.
His long plan was finally coming to its climax.
As the last of the boy’s soul was drained from his body his expression became distant and emotionless. His eyes lazily wandered the room, and his mind began to shut down. Feeling satisfied that this was the last soul he needed to finish things he held the child’s head with both hands and snapped his neck. The boy's lifeless body flopped to the ground and without giving the boy a second look he said, “Dispose of that. I must hurry with things before they reach the fortress. Its time we begin.”
The blood ritual was less of a resurrection spell and more of a body link spell. Malthael’s dragon body was still alive on the mountain, however his humanoid vessel has been dead for nearly fifteen years. If the dragon is to live again, he will need a new human vessel to share the enormous power that it held. To the best of his knowledge, no Archdragon can exist without both a dragon body and a human body acting as a simultaneous vessel for its magic power as well as its consciousness. If the human vessel dies then the dragon’s body is rendered brain dead and cannot function, and vice versa. However, if a new human body replaces it then the dragon can be resuscitated.
Though his goal was to bring the dragon back to life he did not want to be nothing more than a vessel for Malthael’s power, he wanted to command it for himself.
Jiroh stepped into the pool of blood to embrace the weight of all the souls and all the power that would connect him to Malthael but the feeling was too intense for him and his body went stiff and he couldn't move his body as he fell face first into the blood and his mind faded to black...
Then...a few moments passed and the sensation lifted. His body felt like it was sinking as he was enveloped by a surging current. His body then righted itself and he opened his eyes.
What he saw in front of him caused him to open his mouth in surprise and he thought he was about to choke on the blood from the pool but found that he could breath. In fact it felt like he was no longer in the pool of blood at all. He looked up, down, and all sides of him but he couldn't see the light of the room. It was as if he had fallen through a portal into an empty formless space. He looked directly in front of him and he started to hear a steady beating sound that resonated with with his own heart.
He squinted as he looked forward and saw a glowing presence in front of him.
“Malthael...?”
Was he mistaken...? Was Malthael's mind really still intact? He thought that his entire psyche would have been reduced to mere fragments after his humanoid form was killed but it seemed that his ego was still strong.
"Malthael!" He called out again and the glowing presence seemed to pull energy from the empty space and it solidified until the form of a man. The man had dark tanned skin and scales running up most of his upper torso and around his eyes. His hands had small slits in the skin showing that his claws were retracted along with the blades on his forearms.
Malthael's eyes opened and he looked Jiroh in the eyes.
"You...I know who you are...Jiroh Aderlynn. Ha ha ha ha...Am I correct in assuming that you are trying to resurrect me to use my power against Eleum again? Even after you already failed once?"
"I am not the only one who failed. You were supposed to wipe out the army occupying Lunaas but you lost to the strength of one man, Dean Smith."
Malthael's brow furrowed in anger.
"You had promised me that day that I would find a powerful warrior that would push me to my limits. I found nothing but weak humans resorting to tricks to take me down. In the end I was not satisfied and I highly doubt there is anyone in this world who could entertain me anymore. So take any offer you might have and begone. Leave me to rest in peace."
Jiroh smiled at Malthael smugly and said, "No...I don't think I will. If you refuse to aid me in my battle of your own volition then perhaps I should just destroy what little is left of your mind and take over your corpse."
"YOU DARE?! YOU DARE TEST ME?! THREATEN ME?!" Malthael shouted in rage as he turned around and grabbed Jiroh by the throat.
Jiroh simply grinned with wild eyes in the face of the wrathful Archdragon.
The two of them stared each other down until Malthael accepted the fact that he could not simply kill Jiroh in the state that he is in and said, "The fact that you are so boldly honest with your intentions is mildly amusing, respectable even."
"What if I offered you some incentive? There is a woman with white hair and silver eyes. She wields a bow and a half blade longsword that glows with silver light. I remember that she had also fought in the Mordrinite War. She was amongst the strongest warriors that Mordran had fought against. Her name is Artemis I believe."
"HAH! The Goddess of the Moon?! I have already fought that woman many times in the past and she has never been able to pierce through my scales. You expect her to be enough entertainment for me? Try again!"
He grumbled as Malthael's claws extended from his fingers and dug into his ethereal form.
Negotiations were breaking down...
He needed to come up with something that could pique Malthael's interest and get him to feel invested in the battle. If he failed to come up with something that could stir a fire in Malthael and spur him into battle then he would be forced to wrestle him for control over his body which was less than ideal. It would take far longer and it could resort in failure. He figured he had only one more shot to make Malthael join him but he had to take it.
"There is another warrior. One who fought against Artemis and even used her own magic against her. Clad in black stone armor and wreathed in lightning. Even when one of Eleum's strongest warriors, Selene Kiser, failed to defeat her this man managed to match Artemis' strength. His hair was jet black and his eyes were a bright icy blue color. His name is Marcus."
Malthael's eyes slowly widened slowly.
"Hair black as scorched earth and bright blue eyes...Could he be...a child of Hestia?"
Malthael grinned as he released Jiroh from his grasp.
"If what you say about this man, Marcus, is true then perhaps he will indeed be the entertainment I have been looking for...Very well Jiroh. I will play along with your games so long as this warrior does not disappoint me."
Jiroh smiled once again, "Then let us destroy them together."
Marcus…
The three of them pushed through until they finally reached the fortress but just as they were about to charge inside the top floor of it exploded in a burst of flames. He had no idea why it exploded but one look at Artemis told him that it wasn't good.
"No, we didn't make it in time...," she said under her breath.
Alta...
The two of them managed to take down almost the entire force of Draugr with only a handful of them left to be picked off but just as they were about to finish things off for good the Dragon Wraith roared as it fell from the sky and slammed into the ground between them. It knocked them off balance and quickly pulled back its arm to slash at Alta's chest but he managed to block the strike with the edge of his blade, it's claws missing him by a hairsbreadth. The recoil from the strike shattered his sword and sent him flying backwards until he slammed into a tree. With the wind knocked out of him he fell to the ground choking for air and the Dragon Wraith barreling towards him with both pairs of claws extended.
It lunged forward and Alta rolled out of the way just as its claws raked through the tree behind him reducing it to splinters.
Not wanting it to get the better of him Alta took in a quick breath and made a new sword that was much thicker and stronger and slammed it into the side of its neck.
The Dragon Wraith barely stumbled from the impact but the ice managed to lock the joints in its neck in place for a short moment, preventing it from turning its head properly and it swung wildly towards him.
Gaiyen then came flying towards them and slammed his fist into it once again. This time however the Dragon Wraith absorbed the impact as it held both its arms up to block the attack. Gaiyen pulled his fist back as he cried out in agony and Alta realized that his fist had been split in two. His punch had landed right on the blades on the back of its forearms. Fortunately they weren't fully extended and it only managed to cut open his hand from his knuckles to the palm of his hand. If it had cut any deeper and reached his wrist then it would have been bad.
Gaiyen gritted his teeth as he was clearly fighting through the pain.
The Dragon Wraith opened up its teeth to roar at them before extending its blades from its arms. The glowing embers on its bones glowed with greater intensity than before as it roared at them.
Before it could charge at them however, the landscape began to change as Malthael's massive body began to slowly rise from underneath all the snow, dirt, and trees that had grown over his body since he fell on this mountain.
"Alta...! We need to move!" Gaiyen struggled to say through the pain in his wounded hand. As the ground began to shake even the Dragon Wraith had trouble keeping its footing and stumbled to the ground. He then realized that what they were standing on was Malthael's tail as it began to shake loose from the snow.
Gaiyen ran towards him and pulled him off the tail and the tumbled to the ground. Gaiyen lost his grip and Alta rolled away. The Archdragon's tail continued to rise into the air and large mounds of snow started falling towards them. After being tossed around so many times he felt dizzy and struggled to move out of the way from as it fell.
He managed to get his bearings as he looked around for Gaiyen but he could barely see anything at all with the snow and dirt blanketing everything in a haze.
"Gaiyen!" he shouted.
He took off on a run as he tried searching for him.
"Gaiyen! Where the hell are you?!" he called out once again and his eyes zeroed in on a figure in the distance.
"Gaiyen!" he shouted in relief as he made his way over to him.
As he moved closer to it he realized it was just another one of the Draugr that remained from their battle earlier. He ran towards it anyways to make sure it didn't end up reaching Lunaas and he struck it with one of his ice swords decapitating it.
"Alta!" he heard Gaiyen shout from behind.
Alta turned around with a relieved smile on his face that quickly turned to horror as the Dragon Wraith was rushing towards him.
Alta tried to run away from it but the Draugr behind him grabbed hold of his ankle causing him to fall backwards.
The Dragon Wraith continued its charge toward him with Gaiyen following after it.
Alta quickly made an ice dagger and stabbed the Draugr once again, pulling himself away from it.
He got to his feet and tried to run again but a large clump of snow fell on top of him and knocked him to the ground once again.
He pulled himself free of it but the falling snow created a haze that obscured his vision and he lost sight of both Gaiyen and the Dragon Wraith once again.
He looked around wildly to try and find them but could see nothing.
"Alta!" He heard as Gaiyen called out to him once again.
He turned to face the direction of his voice once again as the Dragon Wraith loomed over him with his claws and bladed arms poised to cut him down.
"ALTA, MOVE!" Gaiyen shouted as he slammed his shoulder into him and Alta was knocked away.
He fell to the ground as Gaiyen shielded him. He was about ready to join him so they could fight the Dragon Wraith together but...
He turned his head to look back at Gaiyen watched with fear and shock in his eyes. Blood started leaking from his mouth and black claws protruded from his chest.
"Alta...get...out of...here," Gaiyen struggled to say and he watched in horror as black veins began traveling up from his chest and crept up his neck.
Gaiyen coughed up blood before he shouted, "RUN...ALTA...!"
The black veins reached his eyes and color faded from them before they turned black and his body slumped forward and slid off of the Dragon Wraith's claws.
Gaiyen died right in front of him as he tried to protect him and his corpse fell on top of him.
He could do nothing but watch as the hideous thing that killed his friend roared into the sky and hyperventilate with fear running through his mind.
Gaiyen's body then started moving again and for a moment he thought he was still alive until he looked him in the eyes and saw nothing but the black eyes of an undead. The Deathroot had already infested his body and transformed him into a Draugr.
Fear caused him to frantically stabbed his friend in his skull with a dagger of ice before peeling himself away from him. The Dragon Wraith noticed he was still alive and set his eyes on him as Alta got to his feet. Gaiyen's body also rose to its feet with the dagger still embedded in its skull.
His heart sank in his chest as he realized that he not only had to fight the Dragon Wraith alone but he had to fight against his only friend.
It was hopeless.
Selene...
She watched in awe and horror as Jiroh jumped free from the burning fortress and began cackling madly as Malthael continues to rise.
“You gave a valiant effort, but you failed! Look on to the summit and watch!” he said with glee.
The entire top half of the mountain was torn apart Malthael rose from his grave and roared into the night sky.