by Drew Smith
“This is a pretty well constructed plan Scarlette,” Lumus said with an impressed tone.
“Well Taurald is the closest for a quick getaway, if we get to Capaz I know people there that can help us. Capaz is my hometown after all. As for Librine, it’s a long shot but I knew a boy from there named Dyne. I just hope he’s still the boy I remember.” Scarlette was fixated on the map she drew in the dirt. Lumus crouched down beside her.
“It would be best to meet in this city,” Lumus added as he pointed to Scarlette’s map.
“Capaz? That is perfect. Librine is too far, now that I think about it.” Scarlette added.
“Quiet, there is movement at the tower gate.” Brinx whispered.
Two guards came from the entrance leaving the gate open behind them. The guards lit six torches, three on each side of the gate leading down the path. The guards then returned inside, leaving the gate wide open.
“Lumus what do we do?” Scarlette spoke in a whisper.
“We go…we go now!” Lumus jumped over the rock they all hid behind, and ran toward the gate, the others followed a few moments after him. He made it to the gate opening, but even with the torches, the inside was still dark. He didn’t stop running though. As he entered the darkness, a loud shout of pain came from Lumus and he was thrown from the gates into the boulder they hid behind, shattering it to rubble as his body crashed through. The others stopped immediately. Night was setting in. The blue moon almost set, and very little light for a battle.
“Look! A knight! He was able to take Lumus down?” Scarlette cried out.
Lumus rose from the rubble and brushed off the dirt as if he took no injuries from the throw. The Lord walked into the light, his shoulder armour black like the night, and his helmet covered his face entirely. His armour was all a light black with gold linings. His sword was new but not impressive, it was a common long sword but nonetheless, should not be underestimated.
Lumus walked forward as he wiped blood from his lip. He pulled his sword from his sheath, his head was down and his grip on his sword was tight. As he walked closer and closer to the dark knight, his grip on his sword got tighter and tighter. Scarlette, Zelkem, and Brinx stood still waiting for the dark figure to make a move. The looks on their faces were all the same, anger flittered over them as Lumus flew into the rocks. Just as they all readied to attack, Lumus began to power up, shining a light around his body and letting out a loud yell. His sword in hand, his eyes glowing a bright white as if it was shooting slowly from his eyes like beams of light in every direction. Zelkem stepped aside, as Lumus walked past. The Lord now with his sword pointed straight at him. Lumus stopped a few steps away. Both with their swords up and ready to fight. Suddenly a weird sound from the sky called out.
“Is it the Golden Twilight?” Scarlette said softly.
“No, something else,” Brinx replied.
“Something bigger,” Zelkem added.
The horrible screams got louder as the beast came closer to sight. Suddenly, fire erupted from its mouth.
“It’s a Dragon!” Zelkem shouted with fear in his eyes.
The dragon stopped in the sky, hovering high above them. Lumus was still staring at the Lord, and the Lord stared back at him. It looked as if the dragon dropped something, and the small object got bigger and bigger as seconds passed. Suddenly it came clear to everyone that it was a person.
“Yhaaaaaaa!” The man came crashing down with a sword on his back. It was an odd red metal, like nothing the group had ever seen before.
As the large man landed, smoke rose from the ground making it impossible to see anything. Suddenly he emerged; his sword almost as long as his body. His hair was black with purple tips that reached for the sky, his armour black and purple. His gauntlets resembled hands of a dragon but they had claws over the knuckles.
“You four, go about your business I will handle this Lord.” The mysterious figure told Lumus. Without notice he leapt at the Lord and clashed swords with him violently. Lumus’ glow faded and his face went blank for a moment.
“Go! Inside! We need to find Orson; now is our chance.” Lumus led the group inside through the darkness and they reached the inside of the tower. It was lit up with torches all along of the walls with beautiful murals covering the walls. Without saying anything, Lumus began running up the stone stairs, a spiral of stone steps led to a floor of prison cells with bones in most of them. Guards were everywhere, but without stopping they took out any of the guards in their way. Lumus slashed any foes from the front. Brinx was covering the rear with his projectile thorns. Scarlette made her way behind Lumus. She felt useless without her bow. Zelkem finished off any that came from the corridors of other floors as they passed them.
The stone steps ended after an almost endless climb of stairs. A straight well-lit hallway led to more stone stairs. They ran by numerous prison cells but by the looks of those in the cells they were all dead. Lumus’ anger grew more and more as he passed each blood soaked cell. The tower seemed like an endless pool of blood.
“Lumus, wait!” Zelkem shouted, “There’s someone alive in here.”
Lumus turned slowly in disbelief.
“What?” he said finally.
“He is right, a girl it would seem,” Brinx announced.
Lumus slashed at the cell door until it swung open.
“Who are you?” said a faint voice.
“I’m Lumus, this is Brinx, Zelkem and…”
“I’m Scarlette” She said as she kneeled beside the woman.
“She needs some clothes Lumus.” Scarlette demanded
“What’s your name? Are you okay to walk?” Zelkem said.
“My name is…my name is Zephry. My things are locked in that chest,” she replied.
Lumus’ hand began to glow as he grabbed the lock on the chest then suddenly he pulled the lock off with ease.
“Here, put these on, we must get going,” Lumus turned back to the door.
“Why are you all here?” Zephry asked.
“We are here to find our friend Orson. We think he is here somewhere within this prison,” Scarlette said as she handed Zephry her clothes.
“Orson, he’s the big man from the cell across from me earlier. I think they took him upstairs yesterday and I haven’t seen him come back. They did some terrible things to him. I screamed at them to stop but they wouldn’t listen to me. Last I saw, a Lord came from upstairs but the thing is… I never saw him go up. Orson is a good man, he helped me survive by giving me some of his food.”
She began to cry. Lumus’ face went blank. Lumus wondered about the Lord they saw earlier. “All of you go, get out of here and follow Scarlette’s plan to Capaz. I’ll go alone from here.” Lumus began to head out of the room, but Scarlette grabbed his arm.
“Lumus you can’t, Lears is up there. If you face him alone you might die.” Lumus looked back at Scarlette with a grin on his face.
“I have to Scarlette. I have no choice. Now go!” Lumus ran through the hallway to the stone steps drawing his sword as he ran.
(“This ends now Lears! I cannot and will not allow this to continue.”)
Lumus ran full speed up the endless spiral stairs hearing the others callout to him, he ignored them knowing what needed to be done. Soon their voices faded in the distance. He felt bad for leaving them behind, but he knew he had to face Lears alone.
Scarlette gathered the others and led them back down the tower. Zelkem led the rear and Zephry behind Scarlette. Brinx ripped the window bars out and leapt out. They made their way to the tower gates, where the strange man was still fighting the Lord, and both looked fatigued.
“Frostear?” Zephry called out.
“Zephry, I came to find you! Are you okay?” Just then the Lord had grabbed Frostear’s arm and threw him into the tower wall. Zelkem charged him, but only to take an elbow to the face, knocking him back off his feet. The Lord ran over, striking Scarlette with a devastating uppercut. While in the air, the Lord charged a kick, striking Sca
rlette across the rough terrain. Zephry jumped on his back, only to be grabbed and thrown into the ground alongside Scarlette.
“Hey buddy,” Frostear said as he rose from the debris, “That was a huge mistake!”
Frostear charged straight for the Lord with his large red sword above his head. The blade came crashing down, just missing the Lord. Using the large sword as leverage, Frostear threw his weight into his legs hitting the Lord directly in the face sending him flying in the air. His helmet flew off and his body flailed through the air, and he crashed hard into the ground.
(“I have to be close, there can’t be many more stairs than this.”) Lumus made his way up the tower alone passing by all of the floors and only fighting the guards that stood directly in his path. Finally he came to a large set of doors with brightly lit torches on each side. Two guards charged him, but Lumus took them out with ease. He yelled out loudly as his body burst with a wall of light throwing the doors wide open.
“LEARS!” Lumus yelled out. A mysterious man in a black hood stood by the window. He turned slowly to finally look his rival in the eyes.
“Lumus, I felt you approaching.” Lears said with an evil smile. Lumus ran at him with his sword glowing brightly. Suddenly Ged appeared, dropping to the ground kicking out Lumus’ feet then delivering a kick to his chest that shot him back out the door.
“You shouldn’t have come here Lumus, you fool. You brought everything to us. We have Orson, Twilight’s purest knight. We now have your friends within our grasp, and I can now finish off that bitch, Scarlette. Oh, and Master Lears can finally kill you of course.” Ged said with a laugh.
“Ged, go do what you need to do. I shall deal with Lumus.”
“Yes, miLord,” Ged replied quickly.
“How did the familiar of Ged get to Twilight?” Lumus questioned.
“Familiar? Did Scarlette not explain it to you? I am not from Dystopia. One hundred years ago I traveled to Dystopia to kill demons. I set out to prove my strength. It was there that I found and killed my familiar, but I fell against the other demons, even with my boost in power.... I crawled back to the portal in hopes to return to Twilight, but I was denied passage. I remember begging like a lowly peasant. After losing my pride and my honor… I had given up on becoming powerful. I don’t know why, but I was accepted back into the portal to Twilight. I returned just to die moments later. I then woke up in the realm of the dead, and I started my one hundred years of redemption to be reincarnated, but Scarlette took my place. At that moment I lost it… I couldn’t accept that this child was granted passage over me, and I would have had to wait another one hundred years… I forced my way into the portal after her, but my flesh was ripped from my body. I was transformed into this creature… A monster that would never be accepted as a human ever again,” Ged explained.
“That is enough Ged. You are dismissed,” Lears yelled out.
Just as he appeared, he disappeared through the shadows. Lears took off his hood as Lumus got to his feet. The two looked at each other in silence for a moment. It was almost like they were glad to see each other.
“Lumus, I have heard of you, surprising really. A few demons from the beginning told me as I grew up that you were the first to emerge. Obviously I didn’t think anything of it, but as time passed… More people called out your name as I killed them, and as I burned their homes. Soon I found a young woman named Zephry and through her I learned that Orson was the only one that may know the truth about you. So I searched for him all over. He seemed to be nowhere in Twilight. After that I began to believe this alternate world of Dystopia just might exist. And if it did and he was there, then you might be there. That’s when I began to feel a power like my own. I knew that you had returned. I was lucky to have found your friend Orson. He gave me a lot of the pieces to the puzzle you see. Now that I obviously know you exist, I also know how I truly came to be, and that there is another world for the taking. And you Lumus, you brought all of this to me. So I thank you,” Lears laughed hysterically.
“I never wanted any of this, you are only here by a simple error in judgement. I’ll make sure I fix that error for all of the people of Twilight,” Lumus yelled, but he stared at Lears for a moment. He could tell he was hesitant too. Lumus stared at his own face, and it scared him. How could he possibly fight himself, or even kill himself. The thought of it made him cringe, but he stood up, and kept eye contact with Lears. He fought the idea that it was himself he had to fight. He began to think of Lears as the monster that used his face to spread evil around the world, and that sickened him. They continued to stare at each other, but even Lears seemed frightened. Lumus knew this would be no easy fight, and he knew that he needed to win. For his friends, for Twilight, and for Scarlette. Lears snapped out of his dazed look, and began to smile.
“Oh how heroic Lumus, so you come to the lair of the villain and strike him down, then what? You skip in a field of flowers with the townspeople? Hahaha, not in this dream, for I have made it a nightmare, and it’s my nightmare to manipulate,” Lears said with a sinister laugh.
He picked up two unique swords off the stone table in front of him, one was a black-steeled blade with a uniquely designed hilt. The other sword was a red sword like the stranger’s outside that Lumus met briefly.
“So that guy outside works for you too, the one with a sword like yours?” Lumus looked concerned that his friends may be falling for a trap.
“Hmm? A little off topic, I can’t know every weapon my minions use, but if you’re referring to this sword, it is red steel also known as dragon steel. It’s quite useful. You see it is stronger than any other blade during the red moon. Although it does become just like any other sword during the blue moon it can be very useful in the red light though.” Lears glanced at his sword as he spoke.
“Thanks Lears… I just needed to know if my friends were okay. Now that you have confirmed that they will be okay, I can come at you with everything I have.” He smiled.
He began to glow white, but Lears suddenly started to emit a black aura around him, and Lumus was a bit shocked to see how much he was like him.
“Well, Lumus are you ready to die?” Lears took a step forward as his face lit up with excitement, and he pointed his swords toward Lumus with a grin.
Scarlette scrambled to her feet outside. Zelkem was barely conscious, and Frostear was still in a stale mate with the Lord. Their swords clashed against each other over and over again. Sparks flew like a bunch of fireworks at a celebration. Neither would give up. Zelkem fell unconscious as he tried to stand up. Scarlette could barely lift her head up. Zephry stood up with all of her energy.
“Zephry?” Scarlette said faintly. A dim glow came from her hands, but her eyes were shut. Zephry’s lips were moving as if she was chanting something to herself. Suddenly, Zephry opened her eyes wide, but her pupils had faded behind bright yellow light. As a small portal began to form in front of her, she was thrown off balance from Frostear crashing into the stones beside her. The glow dissipated and Zephry snapped out of it. She raced to his side. No one seemed to notice her glow but Scarlette.
(“That yellow power, I have seen it before. Only a God has that kind of power, and I have seen it used only by the West Zin....”) Scarlette thought to herself while she watched Zephry aide Frostear.
“Hang in there you dumb brute…” Zephry whispered.
“Zephry, I have been looking for you. I never thought to find you here,” Frostear added.
“I was taken… Well I really don’t know how long it’s been…”
“I felt like I owed you for all of the times you took me in when I needed a roof over my head.” Frostear closed his eyes as he spoke. Zephry shook him, and gently slapped his face. He woke up enough to rise to his feet. He faced the Lord once again with a small grin.
“Hello my dear, have you missed me?” Ged grabbed Scarlette by the throat catching her completely off guard. Slowly he lifted her into the air with just one hand causing her to gasp for air.
“I can’t say I imagined this any other way girl, draining the life from you as you did to me in the Realm of the Dead. You stole everything from me when you entered that portal. I waited patiently for one hundred years! Then you come out of nowhere, and a nine year old gets precedence over me? I lost my mind when I saw you go in my place… I chased after you and this is what came of me. A shadow of my former self. You created this! I joined Lears to take over this world, but now that I have found you, I will not stop until I watch the last breath leave your body.”
Scarlette gasped for air hoping to get enough to yell for help, but she couldn’t. Her hands on Ged’s wrists felt weak as she tried to pry them off, but she got weaker and weaker.
The Lord switched focus as he looked over to Ged.... His eyes were glowing red, until he noticed Scarlette. The Lord freaked out as he dropped his sword, and shook his head. When he looked up, his clear human eyes stared back.
“Scarlette!” Orson yelled as if he was too late to save her. He charged for Ged, knocking him to the ground and releasing his grip on Scarlette. She fell to the ground unconscious. Orson walked slowly toward Ged with no sign of hesitation. The dust was covering Ged’s vision as he got to his feet. He couldn’t see in any direction. Orson threw him from the smoke while landing devastating barrage of attacks on Ged. His rage made his strength grow far beyond Ged’s. He was unable to guard a single attack. Orson dragged him across the ground like he was nothing, and without a moment of pause, Orson began to run, picking up speed as Ged was brutally dragged against the loose dirt and rocks along the ground. Scarlette began to regain consciousness, and tried to sit up. She raised her arms enough to lift her head. She noticed Orson fighting a defenseless Ged.
“I can end this nightmare right now, Lears. I hope you’re ready too. I won’t hold anything back.” Lumus told his foe.
“Finally Lumus, I can use my full power. I have never had anyone strong enough to even stand against me for even five minutes, but maybe you can.” Lears shot back.