A Tale From Lanoria: The Princess of Barough

Chapter 20: Determination

Donovan slowly got up from the floor, his body covered in ash. For every second that went by, he was filled with rage. He looked at his hands and quickly began to tremble with all that pent up anger. Oriana was supposed to be there right now, and he had let her slip through his fingers. Again, he had failed to protect who he felt was the most important person in Lanoria. The worst part was that he could have saved her, just like his mother.

"No. No! I could have saved her!" Donovan said as his breathing picked up. 

The mages who made the magic circle quickly began to prepare spells to blast at Donovan. The first one shot shards of ice right through his chest and stomach. Others blasted him with fire and lightning. His clothing was burned and torn apart, hanging from his limbs by mere threads. The skin on his body began to smolder, and his flesh was being blown away. Another mage ran in and swung their swords, trying to chop Donovan's head off.

As the sword came into contact with Donovan's neck, it stopped. It hit up against one of his barriers. 

"You. You all took her from me," Donovan growled in a seething whisper. 

The sword the mage was holding quickly shattered into pieces. The shards of ice in his body followed suit. His flesh was being restored as the holes in his body began to heal. The mages around him looked upon Donovan in shock.

"What the hell are you?!" one of them asked.

"Death," was all Donovan said before a golden wave of magic came flying out of him. It took less than a second for the mages to burst into pieces. Guts, flesh, and bones were flying around the room. The whole room was painted red, while flesh slid off the walls. Donovan himself was covered in a thick layer of blood. His body was bathed in a crimson red, blood dripping from his raven hair.

"Oriana, forgive me, but I am going to get you back," Donovan said as he left the theater, the fire starting to quell as the rain poured down upon the city.

The images of Oriana disappearing ran through his mind as the rain soaked him. The thoughts of the horrible things that could be happening to her scraped against his thoughts. The magic began to pour out of his body, and the seal on his hand began to crack. In one go, the seal shattered. 

As Donovan began to scream in anger and pain, magic shot up and out of him, creating a pillar in the sky. The ground began to shake as if there were an earthquake, and the evening sky turned black. All the stars in the sky began to dwindle. It seemed as if an otherworldly darkness had crawled across the land. All of Asra felt the city shake from Donovan's magic. After a few minutes, Donovan's scream ended, and the land became still once again. 

"They are all dead," he said to himself, "I am going to kill them all. Slaughter them like animals! I'll send them straight to Beelzebub." Donovan snarled as he swiftly summoned his familiar, Crystal, a large ice dragon.

The duo flew off into the sky. The mage began to create a magic circle in his hand in order to try and find Oriana. 

"Damn it. Sirona knows how that thing works better than I do. I will just have to ask her, though she is going to want to know everything. Ugh, it's for Oriana though, so I have to." Donovan took off to find Sirona. He knew it was going to be something she would hold over his head. If it would help him save Oriana, he would do it without question.

Oriana, meanwhile, had been transported far from Barough, right into the center of Winter Haven's throne room. Looking around in alarm, she focused on the royal family before her. The ropes and light from the transportation circle faded, letting the princess climb to her feet. The patriarch of the Gungir family sat on the throne before her. The king wore a stoic expression on his weathered face as he met her gaze.