The Necromancer's Dragon

by C D Muller

  Selena saw this from the corner of her eye and tried to move out of the way, but the scythe scraped against her, breaking through her armor with ease. It left a large cut through her backside, covering parts of her armor in blood. She screamed in pain and tried to keep herself on her feet as Venexus quickly made a second blow.

  She did her best to keep standing and attempted to block again, but the Lich stopped for a moment.

  “Oh my,” Venexus said in the middle of their duel. “We’re expecting company.”

  Selena was not sure what he meant at first, but paused for a moment when she heard voices coming from the other side of the chamber.

  “… I’m sure that she’s in here! By the Divines, I hope that we’re not too late!”

  She heard scurrying and footsteps echoing throughout the room. As soon as she saw who it was, she felt ecstatic.

  What is Silver doing here?

  Thor bared his fangs and growled at Silver just as he made his way to the chamber.

  Silver quickly stood up.

  “You, dragon, are starting to annoy me,” he said.

  “Silver, will you shut up?” Kain stumbled in from behind, “apparently I have to clean up another one of your messes.”

  “Oh, but why are you so glum about it, Kain?” Silver looked up at him with his arms crossed over his chest. “After all, this is one of your specialties—taking on Venexus’s undead army.”

  He stopped when his eyes landed on Selena.

  “Selena! There you are! I was so worried!”

  “Silver?” she was confused but at the same time thrilled and happy that he came for her. Selena wanted to drop her weapon but quickly reminded herself that she was trapped in a duel, when Venexus made another cheap blow at her arm.

  “You bastard!” Silver quickly rushed over and stood in front of her to shield her from another attack. Thor roared at Venexus and began charging at him, but the lich lifted up his hands, summoning black chains that wrapped themselves around the dragon and his snout. Kain immediately teleported to grab Rahim from the saddle and reappeared near the room’s entrance. Thor fell to the ground and struggled to break free, but could not.

  “Stay here!” Kain barked at him.

  “You don’t have to tell me twice!” Rahim exclaimed and cowered as Kain ran back into the fray.

  Selena tried rushing to his aid but Venexus disappeared and reappeared in front of her to block her from reaching her dragon.

  “Your dragon cannot help you,” he said coolly, “he’s almost as useless as you are.”

  He glanced over at Silver, who went to stand by Selena before he continued.

  “So nice of you to join us, Silver,” Venexus mocked, “you’ve come all this way to save your little princess after all. Please, tell me why you’ve kept your secret from her for so long?”

  “Silver, what is he talking about?” Selena regained her balance as she lowered her weapon. Silver looked at her with a worried look.

  “Well now, this will be quite interesting.” Venexus lowered his weapon for a moment and began circling the two of them.

  “Selena, stay close to me.” Silver quickly positioned himself to stand in front of her as if to protect her while keeping his gaze on Venexus.

  “Now is your chance to tell her, Silver, who and what you really are.” The Lich laughed insanely. “Or should I refer to you by your actual name, Genesis Altessa?”

  Chapter 28:

  Selena immediately turned to Silver, but he did not say a word.

  “Sixteen thousand years is a long time of solitude for a shape-shifter, Silver,” Venexus continued, “or should I say demi-god now? Tell me, how does it feel to know that I can easily take away her life in just an instant, while you live in the rest of eternity alone, that you couldn’t do anything to save her? She is the only living proof of your experiment, after all. The fabled dream of a madman slipping through your fingers.”

  Silver formed his hands into fists but instead he quickly turned around and embraced Selena in a tight hug.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered but Selena shook her head.

  “I knew. I had a hunch from reading your journal that you were possibly Genesis Altessa, but I never thought you were a demi-god!”

  “That’s not exactly something that you just go around telling everyone!” Silver said with a wholehearted grin.

  “So you were the white and blue dragon that I saw before getting to Alfheim and this is why you were able to keep up with us,” Selena said.

  “Exactly! I told you to not worry about me,” Silver said with another smile.

  Venexus interrupted them. He laughed and waved his left hand to cast a large shadow ball that illuminated purple and black, hurling it at Silver’s head. Silver, in response to the attack, quickly stood in front of Selena and held his hand up to summon a large blast of light that emanated from his palm as a counter attack. An explosion erupted from the collision that sent them flying across the chamber.

  “Your fight is with me, Lich,” Silver shouted.

  “I don’t think so. You and I are done here. The child– her blood– belongs to me. I need it. With it, I can finally unleash my dragon’s full power.”

  “Your dragon?” Selena and Silver said at the same time.

  “What do you call him? Thor? You’re foolish in thinking he’s your little pet. One day, he will concede. He will serve me in the end days. With your blood, his true power shall awaken and he will be the destroyer of your world. The time will come. It will be sooner than you think,” Venexus said eerily. “Remember, Genesis, that I can just as easily end your life, like hers. You know that you cannot kill me. I cannot be destroyed, even by one such as you. Don’t you remember, Genesis? You have even said it yourself, that Revelation shall be the hope of man. But where is this so called Revelation?”

  Silver tried to talk about it, but abruptly stopped. Venexus took note of this. “So you really can’t talk about it then? Good luck on trying to find it!”

  Silver kept himself in front of her and gritted his teeth as he charged after Venexus with inhuman speed. He shot a few blasts of fire with the wave of his hands, followed by ice mixed with lightning.

  Venexus held up his hand and dispelled Silver’s attacks with ease. Silver then waved his hands and summoned his own scythe out of thin air. He raised it and rushed at the demon with it held high and slammed it against his blade.

  Venexus was sent flying across the chamber, but remained on his feet while Silver was blasted in the other direction; but he, too, kept his balance.

  “Kain!” Silver called out. “It’s your turn!”

  Kain scowled at him.

  “What? I was enjoying watching you getting your ass kicked.”

  “Now is not the time!” Silver growled, “go and take care of his men!”

  “I can’t just stand here and watch,” Selena said to herself. She tightly gripped Ragnarok once more and joined in the fight to help Silver.

  “Selena, please, stay back!” Silver pleaded as he pushed Venexus back.

  “I will not stand and watch you fight my battle for me,” Selena declared, “Venexus is my fight!”

  “I will not let him hurt you again!” Silver cried out.

  Selena looked at him for a moment as her thoughts raced back to when Azrael pushed her off the cliff side at Alfheim Dock, to what Silver said to her then. She nodded.

  “Then I pray that you’ll have my back and fight alongside me,” she said with a faint smile.

  Silver did not respond to this at first, but gave her a smile in return.

  “How touching,” Venexus mockingly said, “I shall make sure there’s a place for the both of you in Oblivion!”

  Selena quickly turned her attention to Venexus and ran at him with the blade held high. Silver quickly went to the side with his scythe at the ready, but their opponent was prepared for his attack as well. However, within seconds, Venexus created a second blade made out of entirely black mist that countered Sel
ena’s attack while he used the scythe to block Silver’s.

  Silver continued to slash through the air to try to get to the Lich, but Venexus was just as fast as Silver was. Their weapons clashed together, sparks of electricity and fire flying in random directions from the collision. Silver bared his teeth and growled in rage and anger, as all his attempts were easily blocked.

  Kain casually walked over to Venexus’s minions. He gave them a toothy grin and revealed his vampiric fangs.

  One of them cowered in fear and dropped his pistol to the ground.

  “Captain Vanguard?”

  “So, apparently I am a celebrity around these parts,” Kain said with a sarcastic tone. “Then you must know how we fight.”

  He waved his hands to summon his own weapon. Two of his hands tightly grasped the handle that held a circular blade on top with hundreds of spikes all around.

  Kain’s opponent pulled out his pistol without hesitation and aimed it at Kain’s shoulder. Without thinking, he pulled the trigger and shot him. The bullet surged through the air and pierced his shoulder, making him stop in his tracks for a moment.

  At first, Kain made a pained face, but shook his head and started rotating his shoulder.

  “I hate it when you bastards do that,” he said in a low growl, “it’s really annoying.”

  Kain held up his weapon and smashed it against one of the cultists from the Order, who stood frozen in his spot as he took the blow.

  Rahim’s facial expression became a look of horror as he watched from his hiding spot.

  “How did you not feel that?” Rahim asked.

  Kain turned to face him with an agitated look just as he killed the last of the Lich’s minions.

  “How about you shut it?” the Vampire retorted.

  Silver made another blow towards Venexus’s head but the latter blocked his attack. Selena took a few steps back and wiped the sweat from her brow.

  Maintaining a level head, she stomped forward. Her foot sunk into the ground as a large, earth wall shot up in front of her. She gritted her teeth as she moved forward with her hands in the air and sliced through the rock with inhuman speed. Perfectly cut pieces sliced through the air.

  Venexus held up both of his arms in a cross pattern to protect himself from the attack. The rocks crumbled upon touch.

  He then held out a skeletal hand with black blood dripping down. Venexus glared at Silver through his expressionless mask, and, before he flicked his wrist to throw the blood all around the room, Silver and Selena quickly ran to the other side of the chamber. He waved his wrist around him, splattering his black blood all over. Kain saw and immediately dove towards Rahim’s spot to take cover. It corroded all that it touched.

  “My followers are so useless,” he said jokingly to Kain, “and yet, so easy to manipulate.”

  Kain turned sharply on his heels with his giant spiked mace held high, and dove in to help Selena and Silver with their fight. Selena could not help but be amazed by the Lich’s ability to wield dual weapons. It irritated her, regardless, as she had not been able to get in a single blow. Kain did what he could to help, but Venexus was quick in blocking every single attack from all three of them.

  Venexus then started speaking in an unknown language. He levitated in the air as a purple aura appeared around him. Giant, raven-black feathered wings emerged from his back. He let go of both his weapons and raised his hands as his sword and scythe kept themselves suspended in the air. With a slight wave of his hands, the three of them were thrown across the chamber by an unseen force.

  “Do you wish to be well acquainted with my friends?” Venexus asked playfully, in an eerie tone.

  Selena forced herself to stand up.

  “I’ve already met your cultists,” she said, “what else can you throw at me?”

  She cringed at Venexus’s reaction, as he laughed insanely.

  “You mean those foolish imbeciles? They’re absolutely worthless! They can’t even accomplish the most simple of tasks!”

  Venexus glided across the ground and waved his hands once again. The inside of the room grew black as shadows started covering the walls. Tiny, draconic-looking creatures emerged from the dark abyss. Their bright red, circular eyes beaming like fire-like dots from the shadows.

  “Those buffoons from, ‘the Obsidian Order,’ only fulfill one purpose,” Venexus said again, “they keep the public busy while I move quickly and quietly throughout the lands. They’re more of a distraction. I can at least give you the privilege of meeting some of the demons from Oblivion.”

  Selena remained frozen in her spot, still clutching onto Ragnarok for support. It was worse than being trapped in a nightmare. Any happy feeling that she had was gone. The glowing red eyes surrounded her as she heard a shrill, childish laughter coming from them.

  Both Silver’s and Kain’s voices were faint. Once again, Selena felt alone, but she tried to fight it off. She swung the sword in front of her to clear her way from the demons that enclosed her. Each one she slayed disappeared into the black mist, leaving behind a few ashes in its place.

  The Lich, meanwhile, focused his other attacks on Silver and Kain to keep them away from Selena. Giant black vines emerged from the sleeves of his cloak. Venexus manipulated them to his will as they sought Silver and Kain.

  Silver used his scythe to cut some of them off and kept blocking Venexus’s attacks while Kain did the same. Venexus then grabbed his weapons once more and engaged the two in physical combat yet again.

  The demonic entities kept Selena separated from the rest of them. She heard the rattling of the chains that bounded Thor to the ground and tried making her way towards him. She ran through and jumped over some of the attacks while using Ragnarok.

  Selena saw that he was close by and thought that she could use the sword to free him from his bindings.

  He looked up to try to see her and tried to speak, but his snout was tightly shut. She extended one of the chains and used the sword to slice through. However, she was jumped by three of the demons nearby and they pinned her to the ground. They left scratch marks all over her face and neck and started clawing off the armor she wore.

  Silver watched with horror as he rushed to her aid, but Venexus kept him away, all the while laughing maniacally.

  Thor shook more vigorously in his spot, as he growled and snarled. He tightened the muscles in his arms and legs and tried to use his strength to break free from his prison.

  Selena tore free from her demon captives and fought them off as she tried to stand up. Her neck and face were covered in bloody scratches and marks, but she kept her grip tightened on Ragnarok’s hilt. She wanted to help Silver and Kain with their fight, but Venexus manipulated the shadows beneath Selena’s and Kain’s feet to make them lose their balance for a split second, which gave him just enough time to focus his energy and attack directly on Silver.

  Silver pushed back one of his weapons but Venexus aimed his sword directly towards his chest. Selena held up Ragnarok and tried to use it to block his attack. However, when their weapons made contact, the impact caused cracks that surged toward Ragnarok’s guard.

  “No! Selena watch out!” Silver cried out.

  Lightning began pulsing around the blade. Ragnarak shattered like glass and pieces of it flew in every direction. Venexus glared at her menacingly and quickly took his shadow sword and struck it at her armor. It pierced the metal with ease and went into her stomach.

  The pain was unbearable. Her mind shattered along with the sword as she collapsed on the ground. Magic spells of many different elements erupted from the broken shards and were cast every which way. Everyone was blown in different directions, as the force of the impact smashed against the walls. They were destroying the chamber from the inside, including the device that read the stars.

  Selena tried to focus, but she was steadily losing consciousness. Her hearing was distorted but she could still make out Silver’s screams and cries of terror. Her mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood
as she tried to reach her hand up to wrap her fingers around the hilt of the weapon that impaled her.

  Thor forced his snout open and let out a terrifying roar. The chains started breaking. A large explosion occurred above their heads, crashing into the ceiling of the chamber and breaking through the glass dome.

  Debris from the destructive magic fell on top of the ancient dwarven device. Venexus once again concealed himself in a purple aura that protected him from destruction. Silver and Kain quickly ran to where Selena was, to escape the chaos.

  A red aura appeared around Thor. As his breaths grew deeper and heavier, heavy winds and dust clouds appeared and circled around him. He roared and summoned a large ring of fire that expanded, disintegrating the chains that bound him.

  Venexus watched intensely at the dragon’s efforts.

  “Hmmm… not as weak as I had thought. Perhaps I’ve underestimated you, dragon.”

  He took his stance and reared up as the flames continued to spread. With one loud roar, the blast was sent in all directions. Silver quickly summoned a shield around him and his group. Venexus, however, held up his hands to siphon the attack and redirected it behind him. Thor’s body became engulfed in flames as the clouds that swirled around him expanded upward. Bolts of lightning mixed with fire surged through the clouds, and it started to rain flaming meteors that killed the rest of the demons that were summoned.

  Silver held his stance and energy shield, while Venexus shrouded himself in a purple aura that protected him.

  When the fire subsided, Thor quickly ran over to his handler to keep her safe.

  I’m here! Hold on!

  Venexus became enraged.

  “You are really such a nuisance! But you, young dragon… your powers are just beginning! You will soon realize the gift I’ve given you before you hatched!”

  Kain quickly reached down and grabbed one of the shattered pieces of Ragnarok. Holding it in between his fingers, he chucked it through the air like a throwing knife directly at Venexus’s forehead. It pierced through the top of his mask and his head shot backwards from the force of the blow. Droplets of black blood surged from the cracks of the mask and dripped down the side.