Infinity Blade - The Secret of Castrair

Chapter 3: Deathless

The giant iron monster steps towards me, and swings its mace. I dodge, and try to avoid parrying and blocking. It would most likely rip my whole arm off. Finally, I swing with both my glittering swords, and strike the beast, knocking it off guard. Quickly, I swing again, and again, the new blades slicing easily through the metal. I'm amazed.

These swords are really powerful. Whenever I swing and cut through the Titan, I notice a bit of green liquid from the cuts. Poison? Quickly, I dodge the strike of the iron Titan, and jump over the mace's low swing. The electricity zaps under me, not harming me. Then the Titan swings faster than before, and the mace hits me, sending me flying. Gasping, I try to get a sliver of air in, but I can't. I'm winded, and the behemoth approaches me, raising its mace. Quickly, I scramble out of the way, but the iron giant doesn't swing. I attack again, but the strike is parried. The Titan attacks, and misses, just as I attack. I dodge the next swing, and the next, waiting for an opportunity. Panting and sweating, I feel like my legs are lead.

Grunting, I parry the approaching mace, and it sends me staggering backwards. I gasp. This Titan is powerful! However, this is not the time to give in to my fatigue. I need to defeat this beast. Quickly, I swing, and, thankfully, I get through the Titan's defences. The slices get through, cutting up the beast, but before I realise it, the Titan is dead. What is this? How powerful is this new weapon? I gape at it, only just noticing the extent of its power. If it's this easy to take down a beast this powerful, how long would it take to defeat that daeril from the mountain?  

I walk towards the elevator, but the, in the pit, I notice a body. A dead one. It's been dead for a while, now. The armour the body wears is vaguely familiar, but I can't exactly pin down what it is. Then I look around, ignoring the unnerving corpse. 

I get onto the elevator, and rise into the room that used to house the God King. It's ruined. The signs of battles are everywhere, and I can even see the place where the old troll had attacked Siris, the Sacrifice who'd defeated Raidriar. There's nothing of interest. Shrugging, I turn, only to find a masked man facing me. 

He's big, but not quite twice my height. I know I probably can't defeat him, so I try to avoid him. But he zips towards me, brandishing a giant club with metal spikes sticking out of it. My eyes widen in alarm and panic, and I raise my swords too late. I fly back; this man's force is impressive. The man looks at me through his mask, and I realise he's a Deathless. Anger boils inside of me, and I roar,  attacking without a plan the giant Deathless. I dodge his next strike, parry the next, and then attack. 

I swing, all the while focusing on where my next strike should land. The shocked Deathless raises his club, and I dive left to avoid being crushed under the giant weapon. Once again, I try to slice at him, but his club is there, blocking my strike and then attacking again. I grunt, parrying the wooden club, and then jump back, only to leap forwards afterward. This surprises the Deathless, and I catch him off guard as I cut at him. 

He hasn't looked well for a while now, being a bit green. The places where I cut him leak a bit of green liquid. This confirms it. My blades are poisoned. Still swinging, I manage to slice through his arm, leaving a deep gash that leaks greenish blood. I whirl, trying to get one last strike, but the Deathless is on the ground. 

Sitting on his ass, he looks a bit pitiful. Obviously seeing my feelings through my face, the Deathless roars, and gets up, swinging his mace, and charges. I leap out of the way, but he takes his club, and using the momentum from a swing, he spins until he hits me in the arm with a sickening crack. I scream, and drop the weapon in my left hand. 

I look at my arm, and notice it's bent in an odd way. My broken arm will be of no use now. I cannot prevent the tears welling up in my eyes, and they fall down, rolling down my cheek and leaving marks in the dust and grime covering my face. 

The Deathless comes closer, and swings his mace again, but I block it with my remaining sword. The blade slices a cut in the wood, splintering it a bit. Unfortunately, I fall to my knees, fatigue too much for me to keep going. I've fought many Titans, only to get here... Is this my end? Is this where I perish at the hands of the Deathless? 

Before I pass out, I ask one question. "Did you write the message?" The Deathless is taken aback. Then he grins, and says, "No. But I know who did." And then darkness is all I see.

I wake up with a start. Who am I? What did I do? Where am I? Did the Deathless kill me? Am I in a sort of afterlife? My mind is clouded with questions. Shoving them somewhere else, I focus on discovering where I am. I look around. No one. Nothing. Oh. No. My swords are on a table next to me. Where am I? Who took care of me? All those questions. I feel a bit dizzy and nauseous, but I push down the urge to throw up. 

I pick up my swords, and notice I'm dressed already. I couldn't have died. This is more vivid, unlike a dream, and I feel very lucid. I'm definitely alive. Good thing to know. 

I open the door, only to find myself outside, on an island. In front, there's a dock, and on my left, a sort of arch made of stone. A circular stone pedestal stands right before me. When I look at it, I realise it's a map. Looking to my right, an abandonned blacksmith tent, with no tools or weapons. The only hint is the furnace. Still, I find something useful behind the furnace. A whole suit of armor. I won't use it, because it'll slow me down, but I could melt the thing to make another weapon. But I decide against it. I already have something, and it's not like I'll need anything else in terms of weaponry.

When I turn around, I find another tent, but this one is a gemcutter's tent, as I notice unfamiliar tools, and, the most obvious, the three gems on the table. I pick them up, and exmanie one. It's a round one, and it!s red. 

I notice my sword has a circular shaped depression on the hilt, and, hoping it will fit, I put the gem in. It flashes brightly, and sticks in as if the sword were made with it. I raise an eyebrow. 

Forgetting about it, I instinctively walk down under the arch of brown rock. A castle in between two giant statues looms over me in the dying sunlight of the day. I hear armor clanking, a sound that has become familiar to me. I whirl, drawing my swords, when a pair of hands grab my shoulders and stop me. I still can't see the armored person. 

Gunting, I wriggle out of the person's grasp, and I turn as I get away. My eyes widen as I realise what the person's wearing. The Armor of Kings! That relic is made of a certain metal found only in one place! The Infinity Blade is strapped to the person's back, along with a shield that's probably very durable.

I realise who this person is from deduction. But he's not someone I expected to still be alive! I thought he'd perished while fighting the Worker of Secrets, Galath. In a gravelly voice, one that hasn't been used for a while, the man speaks, "Who are you? How did you get here?" I'm too shocked to utter a word. I just gape, my whole body frozen from awe. 

The man facing me turns suddenly, and walks away. I faint.

I blink, blink again, and again, and sit up. Hands keep me down. My vision is still dark, so I can't see who's holding me down. Words are being said. One voice female, one male. I go back to sleep.

I wake up. The Deathless I was fighting lies in front of me, slices and cuts bleeding all over. But most impressive is the three giant gashes covering his chest, right arm and face. Wincing in disgust, I sheath my two swords and walk to Raidriar's throne. 

How did the Deathless die? The throne is destroyed, but I notice the deadmind on the side, and tap it. It comes to life after a bit of static, and says in a serene female voice, "Code required for activation. Grunting in frustration, I forget the cracked screen. 

I feel the hilt of my swords, and find the depression. It's not there. Instead there is an uneven lump. Like the jewel from the dream. How did it get on the sword? The red gem is fused with the hilt like in the dream. 

A daeril approaches me tentatively, and then hesitates, then charges. Ikm taken aback, but I parry the blow. Quickly, I slice through the opening it gives me. Green blood flies out of the wounds. 

The blade of my swords seems to glow red, and spew flames from the tip. Is this a side-effect of the gem? Intrigued, I catch the gem glowing every time the flames erupt from the blade. But before I even make the connection, the daeril falls, dead. 

Sweat glistens on my forehead. Panting, I feel tired, and immediately fall, unconscious.