Stundroff lost his breath, as the air in his lungs was expelled by force of Korgat’s punch. And as he hunched over, Korgat spun behind him, grabbed the Dwarf by the neck and lifted him off the ground, cutting the blow flow to his brain.
The Dwarf was nearly unconscious and yet he remained fighting, desperately trying to use his elbows to strike Korgat.
The outsider knew that this was his chance, but if one of the Dwarf’s elbows reached him, it could mean the end of him. So Korgat lifted the Dwarf towards the sky with one hand, as he recalled his sword once again.
The handle of Korgat’s sword returned to its master’s hand as it always did, going through Stundroff’s chest, heart and spine in the process.
The Dwarf spat blood, as his internal organs where torn apart, but still he continued to fight, struggling any way he could to escape Korgat’s hold over him. Korgat summoned a huge lightning bolt towards his sword, using Stundroff’s body as a lightning rod and finally knocking the Dwarf down.
He retrieved his sword from the Dwarf’s chest and watched the wounds on Stundroff’s body began to heal; he then picked up the unconscious Dwarf and carried him to safety in a single leap, landing next to Licius, Lizandra and Barosh.
He placed the Dwarf on the ground and look up towards the summit of the highest volcano.
“What do we do now?” Barosh asked.
“Secure the perimeter and make sure no Fire Orcs escape, the rest is in Arius’s hands,” Korgat replied.
“Is there no way to help him?” Lizandra asked.
“As long as the fumes and fires of that volcano are still active, there is nothing any of us can do. Besides, none of us would be able to wield the frozen blade,” Licius said.
◆◆◆
Arius had finally made it to the summit, where he stood staring down at a pool of burning lava.
“This has to be the craziest thing that anyone has ever done.”
The prince then took one final look at the sky, thinking that there was a good chance that this would be the last time he saw it.
“Father, if you can hear me, I beg you to hold on. I beg you to protect our city, as I take my final descent into madness to fight this monster, for as long as the light in my heart shines true I shall prevail.”
He closed his eyes and took a step forward into the mouth of the volcano.
As the prince fell, he gathered all the energy he could to protect his body from the heat of the volcano, but also from the freezing cold he was about to unleash.
It took several seconds of free falling for the prince to get close enough to the lava, but when he was dangerously close towards the bottom, he drew the frozen blade and pointed it towards the lava, unleashing its winds.
The strong winds from the sword acted as an air cushion, bringing Arius to a soft stop, while at the same time cooling the magma and turning it into rock.
The atmosphere inside the volcano became bearable, as the cold winds and the heat of the volcano almost cancelled each other out. But the sword continued to reject Arius, as it tried to freeze him even through his protective aura.
Arius knew that either the sulfur in the air or the freezing winds would eventually kill him, so he had to defeat Xandraf fast. But to his surprise, Xandraf was nowhere to be found.
The prince now stood over a thin layer of rock that rested on top of burning magma, in an empty volcano looking for his adversary. With each step, Arius’s boots sank just a little in the soft rock, releasing tiny amounts of lava.
“Where are you?”
His voice echoed inside the burning chamber.
Arius walked around the volcano floor, the sword pointed downwards, making sure that the freezing winds gave him a solid place on which to step, for not even his protective aura would save him if he was to sink into the lava.
Six times the prince called for Xandraf, until finally there was a reply.
“I must admit I am impressed you made it this far. But you have accomplished nothing, for this is where you shall die. And I’ll use the sword you have brought to me to kill your friends outside.”
Arius looked around, trying to pinpoint the origin of Xandraf’s voice.
“Show yourself, you coward.”
“You call me a coward? I shall teach you the true meaning of fear.”
“Yes, you hide behind your Fire Orcs and kill people from a distance, never exposing yourself, and when finally someone comes to challenge you, you hide like a coward.”
“That is called strategy not fear. But if you are so eager to die, I will not disappoint.”
Xandraf laughter echoed inside the chamber, the entire mountain began shaking and huge rocks fell from the walls onto the fragile floor, plunging into the lava.
Lava began to pour from one of the holes made by a falling rock, forming a small hill, which, as Arius watched in horror, began to take the form of a giant hand and then an arm.
“You wanted to meet me in person, well, here I am,” Xandraf said, laughing, as a torso emerged from the lava in front of him.
The prince could not believe his eyes as the rocks formed into a torso over forty feet tall.
“Is that the best that you have?”
But Xandraf didn’t waste time giving Arius an answer; he immediately tried to crush the prince with a hammer fist.
Arius raised his holy shield and took the full blow, which pushed the shield downwards burying the prince almost up to his knees in burning lava. Arius looked down and thanked the holy aura of light that surrounded him for preventing his feet from melting, and then he released the holy shield that protected him from the blow, as he plunged the frozen blade upwards into the golem’s fist.
The ice blade and the rock from the golem’s hand clashed in spectacular fashion, but to Arius’s surprise the blade did not pierce the stone. Instead it unleashed a frozen blast of wind, which both repealed the massive stone attack and knocked the prince several feet away into the stony ground.
Xandraf was surprised to see that the golem’s hand was completely frozen all the way up to its elbow, but this was not a major injury, as the melting lava flowing inside the golem quickly melted the ice.
Xandraf recognized the opportunity to strike. Lifting the golem’s other hand rapidly through the lava mountain; he made lava rain on top of the sword, as he then tried to crush Arius once again.
But the giant golem was no match in speed for the prince, who immediately rolled on the ground, avoiding the giant hand, as it smashed the rocks on the floor and sank into the lava. Arius ran towards the frozen blade, fighting the winds from the sword as he did.
The rock golem pulled his fist out of the lava and again tried to hit the prince, just as he rolled forward and grabbed the frozen blade.
Arius screamed in pain, as he once again took a hold of the frozen blade. Xandraf realized that Arius was not only fighting him, but the sword as well.
Xandraf then tried to crush Arius with blows from both of the rock hands, as Arius made his way through the chamber towards the golem.
The prince used his speed to avoid being crushed by the giant fists, only using the sword to repel them when it was strictly necessary. Then, grabbing the short sword with both hands, he jumped towards the golem, sticking the frozen blade in its chest as he landed.
The sword penetrated a few inches of rock this time and the freezing cold spread quickly, managing to freeze a big part of the golem as it did. But Arius could not retain his grip on the sword and fell onto the ground.
Xandraf then used the golem’s hand to take the sword out of its chest.
It took seconds for the golem’s hand to be frozen solid, but just before it was, Xandraf managed to throw the frozen blade away.
“You know, I almost believed you, when you dropped down from the sky acting all arrogant with your ice sword. But you are nothing more than a charlatan, for you try to use two relics at the same time, yet you control neither of them.”
Arius knew that Xandraf was right, yet he refus
ed to accept that he was defeated. But even when the power of the light protected his body from the burning heat of the volcano, without the sword to clean the air around him, he was being slowly suffocated by the fumes.
Xandraf then made a circle of magma rise around the prince and then slowly began shrinking it inwards towards him.
“You know, I can still let you live to see my burning world. All you have to do is kneel before me and beg for my mercy. Accept me as your one true god and I shall spare you.”
Without the sword to freeze the magma and with an unresponsive body due to suffocation, there was nothing that Arius could do to avoid his imminent death. But still the prince managed to turn his head and look at the golem, before saying,
“I would sooner die than watch my kingdom burn. And never shall you… be a god.”
“Very well, death it is then. But fear not, I shall make your death slow and painful.”
Arius raised a holy shield around him to prevent the lava from reaching him, but as his consciousness drifted away, so did his connection to the light.
Xandraf began pressing down on the holy shield that surrounded Arius, slowly sinking the prince into the burning lava.
It was then, when all hoped seemed lost, that Arius heard his father’s voice.
“Get up, my son; this is not the time or place of your death.”
“I am sorry, Father. I have failed you and I failed our city,” Arius said as the rising magma began to engulf his light-protected body.
“No, you haven’t failed us. For within you lies the power to overcome this challenge. All you need to do is let go of your attachments and embrace the light.”
“I can’t, Father; not even in this time of need would I accept your sacrifice to gain power.”
“It is not a sacrifice; my body is old and I cannot maintain the shield around the city much longer. But you hold the power to save our city in your hands. And as the future king of Logrant, you must do what is best for your people, even if it comes at your personal sacrifice.”
A tear rolled down Arius’s face.
“I will now join the light, but I will never leave your side. However, I do leave you the biggest responsibility in the world, my son. For now… you are the king.” The last breath of life left his mortal body and his spirit became one with the light.
And as the soul of King Sabras left his body, so did the shield surrounding the White Knight Keep and the citizens of Logrant city.
Xandraf smiled, as he finally saw victory in his grasp. He decided to finish the prince once and for all, so raising the golem’s hand; he prepared to smash the broken prince as he lay on the ground.
But as the huge rock fists fell upon Arius’s body, they came to a sudden stop, as they crashed against what it seemed to be an explosion of light. And as Xandraf lifted the golem’s fist to see what had happened, he saw the light projection of King Sabras and King Logrant standing in front of Arius, protecting him.
“Get your filthy hands away from my son,” King Sabras said, as both former kings jumped into battle against the giant rock golem.
Arius then felt his body flooded by an amount of holy energy, which he could not even begin to understand and, without even noticing it, he found himself back on his feet surrounded by a huge aura of light that blinded Xandraf.
Yet the golem continued to battle the two former kings with one hand and used the other to block the light that emanated from Arius’s body.
King Arius raised his hand in the air and invoked a powerful tornado made of pure light. And inside the tornado, projections of his hammer spun, crashing against the golem’s rock hand.
The giant rock hand shattered into pieces against the tornado of light, but it quickly began reforming, as the magma inside poured out and began solidifying.
Arius knew that he could put up a better fight now, but his power was not a direct counter to Xandraf’s Crest of Flame. So the prince summoned all the former kings of Logrant and commanded them to attack the golem, as it tried to reform its hand.
Xandraf was overwhelmed by the situation, as every former king began chipping away at his rock armor. This allowed Arius the time to run towards the sword and pick it up. As his hand approached the frozen blade, Arius closed his eyes waiting to feel the pain. But this time, despite the sword’s efforts to fight back, Arius managed to grab it without any pain. And using the power of the light, he focused the freezing wind into a blade shape, which extended the range of the sword.
The golem turned and faced Arius, as Xandraf realized he should have finished Arius when he had the chance. But it was too late to turn back now, Xandraf would finish what he started, as no one, not even the prince of all Humans, could rob him of his vengeance.
“Enough, it is time for you to die.”
Xandraf focused all his energy into the floor and began to melt the rocks into magma with ease, now that the winds of the blade no longer ran free. But before Arius’s feet could even touch the lava, he covered the floor with a huge holy shield, allowing him a safe place to fight and disrupting the golem’s lava supply from below.
“Nice trick, but it won’t accomplish anything. For as we speak, your city burns and there is nothing that the young prince can do to stop it.”
“It is king to you,” Arius said with confidence, as he raised the frozen blade and pointed it at the golem.
He charged, as the golem fought against the light projections of every king in Logrant’s city history.
Then he swung the frozen blade, letting the freezing winds act as a knife cutting through the golem. Xandraf immediately reacted and used the left arm of the golem to try and shield himself from the attack, but the freezing winds cut the solid volcanic rock like a knife through hot butter and managed to carve a long crack in the center of the golem’s chest. And it was then that Arius finally caught a glimpse of his true foe, as the crack had revealed Xandraf’s weak and deformed body, resting safe inside the golem while holding the Crest of Flames.
Arius finally had a target, but the crack on the golem’s chest quickly closed, as hot magma covered it. So Arius once again raised the frozen blade and resumed his attack.
Xandraf used the magma gushing out of the severed arm of the golem to cover the young king. But the molten magma did little to slow Arius, as it immediately bounced off his protective aura.
Xandraf knew he had to do something to stop Arius, but he was running out of options. So in a desperate attempt, the giant golem tried to break up the inner walls of the volcano, so that it would collapse on top of them, burying them both inside. But the light projection of King Logrant placed itself between the wall and the giant rock fist, preventing the attack from fulfilling its purpose.
The golem then used the back of its hand to swat King Logrant, as if he was a fly, and proceeded to strike the wall again, but Arius swung the Frozen Blade again, using the winds to cut the arm of the golem at the shoulder.
Xandraf had run out of options. The fire lord screamed in rage, as burning magma began pouring out of every little crack of the golem’s rock surface.
Soon the magma began gushing out of the cracks and the entire volcano began trembling, as the lava that resided beneath Arius’s holy shield tried to burst out.
Pieces of rock began falling, as the volcano started to collapse.
Arius knew that he would not survive the collapse of the volcano, and that the time had come to end this little game.
He rushed at the golem, pointing the frozen blade downwards, using the force of the winds to propel him up to the height of the golem’s chest.
Arius had almost reached his target when a wave of burning magma engulfed him. The magma could not burn Arius through his strong protective aura, but it did manage to slow him down just enough to prevent him from reaching the golem’s chest.
The young king began losing momentum midair and wondered if he would die trapped under this pile of rocks. But just as he was losing hope, Arius saw the glowing hand of his father reachin
g through the magma.
Arius grabbed hold of his father’s hand. And in one swift movement, King Sabras pulled his son out of the magma and threw him again towards his target.
Now with the Frozen Blade pointed forward, Arius plunged himself into the chest of the golem. And as the freezing winds cut the solid rock and scattered the magma beneath it, Xandraf’s body became exposed once again.
The freezing winds collided head on with the Crest of Flame that rested in Xandraf’s hands, as the misshapen little Orc used it to desperately try to protect himself.
It was in that moment, as Arius flew in the air with his blade pointed forward, that Xandraf finally looked into his opponent’s face with his own eyes and realized he had lost.
Finally, as the tip of the Frozen Blade made contact with the Crest of Flames, Arius gave one final push with his sword as the two relics collide. And as the blade made its way through the crest, a repelling force shattered the golem and sent both Arius and Xandraf flying into opposite corners of the volcano.
It took a few minutes for Arius to open his eyes again, and as vision slowly returned to him, he found himself still inside the volcano, but all of the burning lava had been changed into solid rock. And the walls were full of holes, made by the rocks expelled during the blast.
In the center of the room, on top of the pile of rocks that had once been the golem, the Frozen Blade had fused with the Crest of Flames, and both had been turned into solid rock.
Arius was exhausted, but was still able to stand after all that happened.
Once the young king stood up, he caught a glimpse of an agonized Xandraf on the other side of the room. He walked towards him, making sure not to let his guard down, in case the little Orc had one final trick up his sleeve.
This is the bastard who burned my city and killed my father.
And with that thought in mind, Arius tried to place his hands on top Xandraf’s neck to strangle him. But for a reason he could not explain, he found himself unable to do so.
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