Dark Destiny

[Crow]

Chapter one – The Heroes

Sundown and as the city started to be engulfed in the darkness of the night, the last rays died away colouring the sky. Just before disappearing, they throw a shadow on a building from a young man who sighed as he sat on the edge of a roof watching the light die away.
That young man was called Rendo, a refugee from the demon filled world of Asgoth that came to Earth over five thousand years ago. He had become a cast-out when he refused to kill an elf from the magic world Surinia. Even after all the time passed since he remembered every detail.
The poor young girl was chained up in the middle of an army of demons while their leader, Hargan, watched and laughed at her tears.
“Come Haelon! Finish her off!” Hargan shouted.
The young man, wearing a black armour that was covered in blood stepped forward. In his left hand he had a sword with a black handle and a red blade. He walked over to the elf and raised his sword. But just as he was about to strike, the young elf looked at him with teary eyes. In that brief moment something changed inside the demon and Haelon broke her chains with his sword then took the elf into his arms and ran off with an army of demons running after them. But none could match his amazing speed and, in no time, they were far enough from them to afford to stop. He set her down and she started reciting the words to a spell that created a portal to her home world. After leaving her in her homeland, he left her and never saw her again.
Five thousand years later, with a new name and a new identity, Rendo spent his nights fighting demons and defending the mortal world of men that had separated itself from the rest when it forgot about them.
One night, he had planned a raid on one of the demons’ secret bases in town. However, when he got there, he found that four other warriors who were engaging the enemy had already begun the fight. Rendo did not waste a second and joined the battle. The others noticed him but seeing as he was on their side, they did not stop their own fighting.
However, one of them, an elf assassin kept looking in his direction. She used both swift blade attacks and a few spells in her fight, which was interesting because assassins were not known to have any knowledge of magic, even if they were elves.
At the end of the battle, the five warriors gathered in the middle of the room to talk. A fairly tall, well-built man with short blond hair and green eyes, in a knight’s armour, wielding a battle-axe was the first to speak:
“It’s refreshing to see new blood!” he said looking at Rendo.
“Indeed,” a tall man in a greyish cloak with long dark hair and a wooden staff interrupted him. “Allow me to make the introductions. This brave knight is Jolan Hemora. The one with red hair and a sneaky and price-evaluating look in his eyes is Shakin Minais.”
“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” Shakin said smiling. “You must be Rendo Darkwind. The converted demon we’ve been hearing about.”
“I am,” Rendo was quick to reply slightly tilting his head. “And you are?” he asked looking at the tall man in the grey cloak.
“That’s Atilu Wes! A wizard” Shakin stepped in. “And the elf assassin with a look in her eyes that could kill is Zedana Kael.”
The elf did not say a word but just looked to him and swiftly nodded her head. After the fight it seemed that all she wanted was to get away from Rendo as soon as possible. She appeared to be in a conflict with herself on what she wanted.
The knight looked around at the many bodies of dead demons around them that had already started to turn to dust. Once they died in the human world, demons quickly turned to dust, due a spell cast by magicians in Surinia, to keep the other worlds a secret from the mortal men who had forgotten about magic.
“More and more demons escape into this world,” Jolan said. “I’m starting to have suspicions about it.”
“I agree,” Rendo said stepping on the decaying skull of a demon. “And I might know why. Something tells me that the demons of Asgoth may be trying to make Earth their new home. I intend to go before the Elder Council of Atheon and ask for their advice in the matter.”
“We shall accompany you, if you will allow us,” the wizard said.
“We sure will!” Jolan stated. “This concerns all of us!”
Shakin smiled as he looked at their enthusiastic faces. Almost as if there was more going on in his mind than just how much he could get for the demons’ weapons and armours and said: “Yeah, why not? I might get some profit out of this.”
“I’ll come too,” Zedana said in a low voice.
Rendo made a portal to the land of Surinia and the five warriors left to see the Elder Council. On the way, Rendo and Zedana kept sneaking a peek at each other. The converted demon felt something strangely familiar about her but he had too much on his mind to try to talk to her.

[Nagato]

deci tu erai! am urmarit povestea asta cand inca mai era darkanime, mi se parea ciudat ca prea imi pare cunoscut!
chiar mi-a placut, si mi-a parut rau cand s-a inchis forumul ca eram curioasa cum se continua, asa ca pune mai repede si celelalte capitole:)

[Crow]

Chapter two – The secret

After they went through the portal, they walked almost all day long until they finally saw an immense white palace in the distance. Everyone in the Shelter of Light gave them a warm welcome and took them immediately to the Elder Council where Rendo told them what had happened.
The council members talked amongst themselves and then finally told them what the real threat really was. The demons of Asgoth were trying to destroy the dimensional walls that separated the four realms and create a single world where chaos will dominate. For that, they needed five long forgotten artefacts, a soul between light and darkness, innocent blood and a bleeding heart.
After the meeting with the council, the five warriors were shown to their rooms and allowed to rest. Rendo, however, could not sleep so he walked around the castle until he stopped at a balcony to look at the stars.
Kadar Thorn, one of the generals of Atheon saw him walking around and followed him. Once he found the warrior he walked up to him and said: “Long time no see, old friend.”
“I’ve been busy,” Rendo replied on a cold tone.
“I should think so,” Kadar said sitting on the ledge of the balcony. “Fifty million demons sent back to their world, that would definitely keep you busy.”
A silence followed as if the two were both avoiding a subject they knew would eventually come up in that conversation. Rendo looked at the stars above, pretending to ignore his companion while the general looked at him with both compassion and regret in his eyes.
“Have you seen her?” Kadar finally spoke.
“You know I haven’t seen her since then. Now if you don’t mind, I need to rest.”
After that Rendo left the balcony in a hurry and went up to his room without even looking at the people he passed by. He looked disturbed by the recent events and preferred to spend the rest of the night alone.
As the converted demon walked away, the general said to himself: ‘You haven’t slept in about five millennia.’ Then started walking towards his room. As he passed by the indoor gardens he saw Zedana, sitting alone on a bench next to the rose bushes. He walked over to her and spoke to her with a gentle voice: “He doesn’t know who you are.”
“And he’s not going to find out either,” she replied with a threatening look in her eyes.
“Why not? What do you want from him?”
“Want from him? I owe him, more than he will ever know. And I intend to pay him back for everything he has done for me.”
“That’s why you turned into this warrior?” he asked pointing at her blades. “That’s why you studied both the arts of combat and of wizardry for almost five millenniums?”
Zedana looked at him with a fierce look in her eyes and said: “This is the path I’ve been given.”
Seeing as there was no reasoning with her, Kadar stood up and walked to the door but stopped just before leaving and said: “Are you going to tell him?”
“I don’t know,” she sighed.
“It is your decision but he will figure it out sooner or later. Get some rest, Morwen, elf princess of Surinia, tomorrow will be a big day.”

ma bucur sa vad ca inca mai am fani (cel putin unul)

[andemon]

pune mah mai mult...k parca pana aici citisem si eu...
e faina povestea si te face curios..damn you crow!

[Crow]

oh yah, i remember you used to like it, reading it again?

Chapter three – The mission. The Alliance.

The next day, Rendo and the others woke up early to see what the Elder Council had decided had to be done. Once they entered the large, round room, the twenty elders stopped talking and looked at them. They were sitting at a long table and in the middle, an old man with a long white beard and a concerned look on his face spoke to them:
“Our decision is to send someone to investigate what is going on. The first place to go will be the Temple of the Eye and ask the Seers what they can see in their premonitions. We also need someone who can fight any weapon Asgoth has.
Rendo stepped forward and spoke without a moment’s hesitation: “I will go.”
A deafening silence followed his statement. The elders were surprised by his decision, although they were aware of his reputation. The High Elder smiled at him and said:
“We cannot ask this of you after all that you have done for us.”
“It is my duty and I will gladly do it,” the warrior replied.
“Then we will send General Kadar along with you,” one of the Elders stated.
Zedana quickly took a step forward and said with a louder voice than she had exhibited before: “I will go as well.”
Jolan followed her and so did Atilu. Both seemed equally enthusiastic to go on such a perilous trip and neither one showed the slightest hint of doubt in their convictions.
“It will be an honour to embark on such a noble crusade,” the wizard said, holding his staff firmly in his right hand.
Jolan pulled out his axe and lifted it as high as his hand could reach as he almost shouted: “I’ve been trained to fight the darkness everywhere and anywhere it spawns, count me in!”
Shakin watched them with an amused look on his face but if anyone examined his eyes more carefully, they could have seen that there was more to the rogue than met the eye.
“All right!” he said. “I’ll go too, who knows, those artefacts may be worth something… after you’re done with them, of course.”
The Elders bid them farewell and they immediately left for the Shelter of Light and headed towards the Temple of the Eye. But at only a few miles away from the temple, the six companions saw smoke coming from the direction they were headed and ran towards it. They found the temple swarmed by the small demonic creatures called imps.
After killing a few hundred of those small monsters they entered the temple where they found a demon holding a young woman in a white blood covered robe, prisoner. The demon stood six feet tall, had black skin, yellow eyes and two small horns on its forehead. Rendo frowned and grabbed his sword then shouted at the creature:
“Let her go, Garsk!”
The creature turned to them looking confused that someone knew its name.
“You know that… thing?” Shakin asked nervously.
“Yes, its one of the Dark One’s generals and a low one at that.”
“You have the upper hand,” the creature spoke. “You know me but I don’t know you.”
“It’s enough for you to know that I’m your end,” Rendo said pulling out his sword.
The monster was infuriated by his challenger’s boldness so he pushed his captive aside and charged him. Rendo needed only to deliver one blow with his sword to bring down the beast that with its last breath said: “Whoever you are, you won’t be able to stop him.”
“The Dark One has been defeated before seven thousand years ago, what makes you think it won’t be the same this time?”
“I was not talking about the Dark One,” the monster said and with a final twitch, died.
After they made sure it was dead, the young woman stood and walked over to her champion.
“I thank you, noble warrior, for saving me.”
“Are you injured?” Rendo asked looking at the blood on her robe.
“No, this is not my blood.”
“Who are you?” Atilu asked.
“I am Mila, the priestess of this temple.”
“And where are the Seers?” the wizard continued.
“They managed to escape just when the fighting began, I can show you where they went.”
After making sure there were no other demons around and burying the corpses of the ones the demons had killed, the six warriors followed the young woman.