AEONS: THE GODS ARE DAMNED

Chapter 34

Eldrin and Aelene opened their eyes to find themselves at a beach; they stood and looked around. It was night and the cold sea breeze hit their skins.
“What happened?” Aelene asks confused
“I tried to transport us to No-man’s land but the poisoned magic of the Midlands must have affected the trajectory of the spell, pushing us all apart”
“The others have to around here then, right?” Aelene asked as they walked away from the beach and towards the closest settlement.
“I don’t think so, Kelpas aimed to keep us in that shield of disintegration, but I teleported us without thinking of the consequences”
“Which is?”
“Bypassing Kelpas’ magic and the disrupted magic of the Midland, it caused the spell to move us apart; I did not intend for it but for all we know, the others might be at different parts of the Lands by now”
“Or they might be somewhere in the Midlands and at the mercy of that lunatic” Aelene said in annoyance
“We can’t go back, we are close to No-man’s land from here; and I know where Chase is, we can find him first and end this madness”.
“Is sniffing out rats that hard?” Allania asked the wolves pissed off at their failure to find Chase, after the wolves had scoured the most of the North-West’s No-man’s land.
“We tried, they are cloaked”
“No man’s land doesn’t have strong connection to ley lines like other lands; their magic is not as powerful here; look and you shall find” she said
“And if we cannot?” the alpha wolf asked
“Then I shall test the theory of whether animals have an afterlife” she said and the wolves scampered off. “Perhaps I am now as made of rock as Ralnor” she said as she watched the wolves running away.
*
Ralnor lands on the top of the castle; the king and his councilmen all gave a breath of relief.
“Don’t be so relive, I am not here to save you”
The king – Aranel Veldroth – walked forward, “Lord Ralnor, what a pleasant surprise this is”
“Keep your pleasantries Aranel, I need the god stone”
“Oh oh oh oh oh, no no, no way am I giving you the very thing that Kelpas wants; you cannot have it”
“Am I being unclear Aranel?” Ralnor said and walked close to him with his eyes glowing blue, “or do I need to be more persuasive?”
“How do we know you are not Kelpas in another form?” one of the councilmen asked from behind the king
Ralnor stopped in his tracks; he turned back and looked over the castle grounds; men laid dead and people cried as they couldn’t be saved; Ralnor felt the need to help them but his need to save the entire realm is more. 
He faced the king, “How did his armies defeat you?”
“We used the medallion of Hashrott but when the Midland sanctum fell, they all turned against us; we fought them back and soon I had no choice but to withdraw them all; but the damage was done, the forces of Kelpas invaded us and our walls fell”
“We need to call in everything we have; it is time for the hood to fight back, Kelpas must not win” Ralnor said and look back over the land, “We cannot fail” he stretched his hands towards the horizon and searched; he felt it and his hand curled back like it was burnt.
“What?” the king asked
"A plague, Kelpas is controlling the shapeshifters with one of the three Reaver plague; one to control the shape shifters and fantastic beasts, another to control the natural forces of destructions, the third controls pestilence. Someone is using the first stone on your territory, you get the stone…”
“We stop the attacks” the king realized and Ralnor nods, the king faced his councilmen, “get me the captain of the guards, send messages out, find that stone”
“It will not be easy to get the stone”
“We will kill all we find if we have to”
“Those shape shifters are innocent, but I can get the stone without risking any life”
“Except yours”
Ralnor nods his head to the left once, “I am immortal, am I not?” he jumps off the castle terrace and spurts out his wings, heading for the stone.
*
With a grunt, Corym was helped to a small rock where he sat tired.
“Are you alright?” Aranor asked
“I am fine; I just need to regain my strength”
Haemir stood beside him, “You do not need to join the war if you are not yet up for it”
“Do you think me weak, Haemir?” the old man asked and held him walking cane, trying to sit up better;
“You are weaker than you let on” Aranor said
“Am I?” Corym asked; in a swift move, Corym struck Haemir so hard that the Drengrin doubled over, he threw out a kick almost immediately and struck Aranor in the chest; he brought the cane down on the back of Haemir’s neck, bringing the dragon down; he ducked and Aranor’s slash swung over his head, he placed his left hand on the ground and spin, releasing a kick to Aranor’s belly; he landed on his feet, completely stainless.
Haemir darted for him but Corym matched every move that Haemir gave; Aranor stood and tried to catch Corym unaware by colliding with him, but Corym sensed it and did a cannon roll in the air; blocking Haemir’s punch and Aranor’s lunge; he landed on his feet and stretched his hand blasting both dragons so hard that they both were flung into the air; Haemir landed on the stony floor and Aranor hit a rock, cracking it before he then landed on the ground.
Corym stood at attention with his hands on the head of his cane, his glossed eyes staring at nothingness; he gave a heave before he then spoke.
“Do I still look weak to you?”
Both dragons shared a look before standing up.
“You proved your point” Haemir said standing up
Aranor stood as well, “you surely did”
Corym smiled and closed his eyes, he opened them again only for his pupils to be perfectly clear, his brown pupils stared at them. He could see.
“Things are not always what they seem, brothers” Corym said still having that smile on him.
“You could see” Haemir realized
“Yes”
“All this years, staying away because you lost your eyes; it was all a lie, a ruse” Aranor said
Corym explained, “It was all a plan, Korvac wanted someone he could trust, someone he could use without invoking Kelpas’ suspicion; he needed someone off Kelpas’ radar…”
“…I can take them for a longer time but if their reinforcements arrive, they will break through our defenses” Captain Ievos Ehlark standing beside Korvac said 
“Take your regiment and defend Erevale, Corym, you’re coming with me; we will hold off the dark legion till our last breath”, Korvac said looking at his face on his sword. He nodded to the men before taking off with Corym.
Both men ran across the fields for what seemed like an hour; they stopped as they saw an army of orc-ish monsters running towards them.
“We cannot hold them all off” Corym said with an Eastern accent.
“I know, but you are one of the best mages Maregere has; I need you for something important, a way to win this darkness once and for all…”
*
“…Korvac entrusted me with the plan to take down Kelpas permanently; a weakness” Corym said as the dragons listened
“What is it?” Aranor asked
“Kelpas is trying to absorb the power of the young Aeon into himself, to kill Kelpas he needs to kill himself”
“That is what Alinar said” Aranor said,
“How will we make Kelpas kill himself?” Haemir quizzed the old mage
“Absorption magic has one flaw; it is blind to what it absorbs”
“You want Chase to allow Kelpas to absorb his power but find a way to poison Kelpas in the process?” Haemir asked unsure
“Yes” Corym answered
Haemir shouts, “What! No! Everything we have been doing was to avoid that…” 
“How possible is this theory?” Aranor cuts Haemir off
“Under certain assurance? We are not so sure” Corym answered
“No way, why are we even considering this option?” Haemir asks standing up 
“If that is the only way, then we will take it” Aranor says standing up,
“We are not even supposed to take this into consideration” Haemir said annoyed
Aranor threw in, “and what if Kelpas gets us all, when he draws power from Chase we will be doomed and not us, but the entire universe, this realm and any other world beyond ours” 
“We need to stop Kelpas before he destroys us all” Corym said
“Even if it will mean Chase’s death” Haemir added finally in realization
“We cannot save everyone in a war Haemir, especially not the life of a solution” Aranor said
Haemir rubbed his face and walked around for a while before he roared into the air and punched a nearby rock, shattering it completely.
He panted, calming down before facing them, “How do we poison an immortal?”
Corym smiled.
*
Ralnor landed on his feet and his wings retracted; he walked forward; the large herd of shape shifters stood unwavering in front of him. Ralnor stopped walking and sighed.
“Hiding behind a group of beasts in fear shows just how coward you are”
“I fear no one, not even you Drengrin” a voice replied him from behind the group of shifters; Ralnor smiled and stepped a little forward.
“Then why don’t you show yourself, or do I truly need to tear apart all these innocent things just to get to you”
“You might have the power to do that, but do you have the power to stop the most powerful dragon in the world?” the voice said with a chuckle
Ralnor heard huge flapping wings and Grimuth closed in. He turned to see Grimuth roar and release a ball of fire. Ralnoe jumped out of the way and flew into the air. Grimuth crashed into the trees and turned round to face Ralnor.
“Do not run from me Drengrin, you wait and die” Grimuth shouts out to him
Ralnor flaps his wings and stayed afloat with a smile, “You might have the power of all the dark gods, Grimuth, but you are nothing more than a wooden puppet with strings coming from the dark realm”
Grimuth roared in anger and shoots towards Ralnor; Ralnor flew towards him and Grimuth released a fury of fire but Ralnor swiftly weaved to the side and landed a punch on Grimuth’s face before whirling away and floating just meters away; Grimuth shook his head and looked for Ralnor; Ralnor smacked his face with a tree and he roared in anger. He blew out a spray of fire, Ralnor quickly retracted his wings and pummeled to the ground to escape it. He spurt out his wings again to stop his descent; he shot up and Grimuth dived for him; they roared as they collided; fangs to flesh, claws to wings, they both pummeled to the ground and landed in the forest. The impact of Grimuth hitting the ground sent a shockwave that shook the entire kingdom and even neighboring villages could feel its impact.
*
“What was that?” Captain Aendryr asked the king; he has been with the king ever since he brought Chase in months ago. The king looked towards the forest.
“That is the oldest dragon doing some push-ups…” he faced the captain, “we need to contact the brotherhood and sisterhood now but we have to do it before the sanctum falls”
*
Ralnor stumbles and fall, he stands again and finally got his footing; he looked back to Grimuth who was already on his feet and stalking him.
“You know you cannot stop me, Drengrin”
“Yes, I do”
“Then why do you bother trying?”
“Is it not obvious enough Grimuth? I am stalling you” He said with a smile
Grimuth now realizing his mistake looked towards the Sivserian castle and saw a wave of magical energy leave it. The King of Sivseria just sent a message to all member of the brotherhood.
Grimuth growled and faced Ralnor
“I know, you are so mad right now are you n…” he was interrupted when Grimuth blasted him away with an energy attack in anger. The attack threw him away and Grimuth took to the skies heading towards the Western Sanctum; he was not going to fail the dark gods, not now, not ever.
With a chuckle, Ralnor struggled to sit up; he stood after few seconds of rest. The entire forest was leveled by the effect of their battle; he looked around to see that hundreds of shape shifters were heading towards the castle. He grunts in anger before taking for the sky.
*
Their feet trudged as they walked towards the castle of Entrydal; the sanctum and the castle of the largest kingdom in the North. 
“I cannot believe I agreed to come here first”
Aelene replied him, “Well, I won with good reasons did I not? We need to get the god stone away from there before Kelpas gets his hand on it”
*
A pillar of magical energy lands into the midst of snowy mountains; Corym, Aranor and Haemir appeared; around them stood men and women, all members of the brotherhood and sisterhood; Aranor sighed as he saw them all; he never prayed for a moment where all of them come together to face a threat.
*
Grimuth flies hard towards the castle; he releases a concentrated bolt of energy and brings down the sanctum instantly; the clouds turns red and a great quake shook the Kingdom to its foundations, fire falls from the sky in form of a pillar and another fortress appears in its stead.
*
The instant Ralnor saw that the castle has been destroyed he changed his direction and headed for the man that held the plague.
He dived for the army of shape shifters below him, them oblivious of his descent. He landed among them, the force pushing all the ones close away. Ralnor stood and tunred, facing the man with the plague.
“Can I have the stone now?” he asked
The Delrach was visibly scared, he quickly commanded the shifters, “Get him and tear him in shreds”, the army attacked.
Ralnor smiled; he weaved a punch that came from a nearby opponent and backslapped it; the force that came from the contact cleared the right side. When the Delrach saw that Ralnor was too strong to beat easily, he called all the shape shifters from the entire kingdom to his aid, but none could match Ralnor as he easily knocked them all away like flies, he didn’t even need to use his powers as his strength was enough to get it done.
10 minutes later…
The Delrach crawls away as Ralnor had left a gaping wound on his side; Ralnor walks stylishly towards him. Soon he tire and rested on his back; his army of shape shifters were all knocked out around him.
“Please, please don’t” the man begged for his life as he couldn’t find enough strength to crawl further.
“The plague and perhaps you shall live to see another morning”
“Kelpas will have your head for this”
Ralnor chuckled and pressed his foot on the man’s chest, the man groans as he was forced onto the ground; Ralnor crouched over him.
“If he could, I will be headless right now” he shot his right hand over the man’s face and held both sides of his head with two fingers; faint blue glow appeared and the Delrach shouts in pain; he fishes out the location of the stone and found it.
He released the man’s head and the eyes of the man stared into oblivion as he dies.
Ralnor tears the man’s armor and cloth revealing the stone imbedded in the man’s chest; with a quick slash the stone falls off and Ralnor held it; he kept it in his pocket. He looks around and saw the shape shifters of Sivseria all around him.
With a booming voice he commanded them all, “Arise, soldiers, march forth, march for Erevale” in a trance they all stood and did as he commanded. He followed them as the headed for Erevale on foot.
*