Gunvold's momentum came to a stop, his massive form covered in gore from the exploded skull of Vuurbin. The lifeless and headless body of the priest of the flesh collapsed to the floor in a heap, blood still spurting out of the fragmented and torn neck hole. The group stood, mouths agape, watching in disbelief at what just happened. Tulinda dropped to her knees at the sight of Gunvold appearing and saving Sielan from Vuurbin, it was nothing short of a miracle. Sielan slowly pushed herself up from the table and turned to Gunvold, his massive muscular body dwarfing her frame. The former grand champion looked down at Sielan, her small form shaking, naked, battered and bloody. She stepped forward and embraced Gunvold sobbing uncontrollably. "Thank you! Thank the Three you saved me! I...I don't know what to say, I owe you my life!" Sielan wept uncontrollably and buried her face into Gunvold's abdomen.
The Behemoth looked over to the stunned group of Vesnians at the opposite side of the room from him. He then slowly shifted his gaze down to the sobbing figure that was clutched tightly to his huge form. With no emotion on his face or in his voice, Gunvold reached down and gently took Sielan's head in his palms. "I take what is owed then my dear," said Gunvold. With a swift motion he twisted hard instantly snapping Sielan's neck with a loud crunch, the body of the historian fell limply and hit the floor, landing beside the remains of Vuurbin's mangled corpse.
"NO!" Tulinda cried out in shock as Sielan's lifeless body was still in mid-fall to the floor. Before the group could react Gunvold leapt across the tables and was upon them. The Behemoth swung Goredallion in a downward arch with unconceivable might towards Zeranidul. The Anidul chieftain raised his axe to block the blow but Goredallion splintered the axe and followed through connecting with the thin Tormos' head. A sickening crunch was heard as the chieftain's skull was bashed in, more gore and brain matter splattering across the room. Before the mangled body of Zeranidul had hit the floor, Gunvold was already back peddling while avoiding dual swings from Corvul and Gowinda. The Behemoth, moving with fluidity and grace that belied his gargantuan size, nimbly side stepped and dodged a furious onslaught of swings from Corvul and Gowinda. In between the constant stream of hacks and slashes, Gunvold, quick as lightning, darted forward and delivered a hard kick to Corvul's chest, knocking the Phlebos into a steel table.
Gunvold side stepped a slash from one of Gowinda's axes and grabbed the champion by the shoulder, twirling him in the process and throwing him into the wall. Gowinda hit the steel plating and Gunvold was immediately upon him. He grabbed the smaller Tormos' head and bashed it into the steel wall with such tremendous force Gowinda's skull cracked. Not letting up, Gunvold gripped the champion's throat and squeezed, crushing the Tormos' windpipe and neck resulting in blood spurting out of Gowinda's mouth. The champion's body slid down the wall falling limp, blood streaming out of his facial orifices. Gunvold heard the Phlebos commander recovering from the previous powerful kick and side stepped just as Corvul leapt forward slashing with his dual short swords. Gunvold dodged the quick strikes, however on one pass he grabbed the left hand of Corvul and pulled him close. Once the two were locked together Gunvold twisted hard, snapping Corvul's wrist and then pushed the commander away. The Phlebos stumbled backwards from the force of the shove while crying out in pain due to his shattered wrist. Before Corvul could regain himself Gunvold was atop him, the Phlebos officer tried to swing his sword but Gunvold caught Corvul's last good wrist in mid-swing and twisted again, snapping the bones. The commander dropped his sword and fell backwards landing hard on the steel floor. A pain shot through Corvul's body and he looked up to see his own sword buried deep in his chest. With a sadistic smile Gunvold pushed harder until the Phlebos commander was completely impaled on his own sword.
Corvul had blood bubble up from his mouth and felt his life slipping away. Gunvold knelt and whispered to Corvul. "This is me finishing what I started in Armistan you piece of shit." Gunvold stood back up, unslung Goredallion, and with mighty force swung the war mace overhead, the weapon connecting with Corvul's head, his skull being obliterated, flesh and brain matter once more flying across the room.
With a wide grin Gunvold turned his head towards Lorne, Thelais and Tulinda, all of them staring in disbelief. In only a matter of seconds, with almost no effort, Gunvold had slaughtered all their companions. Gunvold's eyes, nothing but dark cold pits of hatred, focused on Lorne. "So, the grand champion and the high commander finally meet on the field of battle. I've heard much about you," said the Behemoth as he stepped around Corvul’s broken corpse.
Lorne watched as the titanic Tormos moved across the room coming closer to the remaining expedition members. "I would try to talk some sense into you Gunvold, but it is obvious that any words would be futile. You have forsaken the ways of our creators and bring dishonor upon our people. I will put an end to you once and for all. Your heinous actions will not go unpunished. Those which you have slaughtered will be avenged. I now know why I was led to this place at this time. The Three wish for me to end your madness, and with their blessing, that I shall," said Lorne coldly.
The high commander took a step forward but Thelais grabbed his arm. Gunvold quickly glanced at the pyromancer grasping at her husband and then shifted his gaze back to Lorne. "I grant you permission to say goodbye to your wife high commander. Know that while your death will be slow and painful, I promise to kill the pyromancer quickly and painlessly."
Lorne turned to Thelais. With tears welling up in her eyes and through clenched teeth she whispered to him. "Please, please don't, we can run and be safe!" Though her mouth didn't speak it, Lorne could see in his wife's eyes that she knew if Lorne fought Gunvold it would mean her husband's death. Lorne, normally a bastion of righteousness and purity with unquestionable resolve, slowly cracked. His lips began to quiver slightly, and his eyes watered up. Despite his brave words, he too realized he was about to go valiantly to his death. "If I should fall," whispered Lorne, his voice wavering, "you and Tulinda are to run do you hear me? With whatever powers you have left you are to seal off this room and delay him while you escape. I cannot run, I'm too injured, he would catch up to us, but you all have a chance if I distract him, do you understand?"
Thelais shook her head, her vision nearly completely obstructed with tears. "No!" She cried in a loud whisper. "I won't leave you to die!" Lorne grabbed his wife and pulled her close while stroking her hair gently. "Know that I love you, with every inch of my body and every fiber of my soul. Know that I have always loved you in every previous life we have lived. Know that I will forever love you in our next life. Know that out of all the blessings the Three have ever bestowed upon me, you have been, and will forever be, the greatest one. May the Southern Sun always shine upon you my love." Lorne bent his head and gently kissed the top of his wife's head. "We'll meet again when we're with the Three."
"NO!" Thelais cried out mournfully, Lorne gently pushed his wife away glancing at Tulinda who grabbed her and held her back. "You will do what must be done Tulinda," said Lorne to the geomancer who nodded her head as she held Thelais tight.
Lorne turned and readied his long sword, Gunvold stood opposite him with Goredallion still slung behind his back. The enormous Tormos cracked his knuckles and grinned with dark intent. "I won't give you the honor of dying to Goredallion high commander. I'm going to take great pleasure in beating you to death my bare hands."
The high commander roared in fury and charged at the Behemoth. Lorne quickly began delivering a series of quick slashes towards the Tormos giant. Although his body was beaten and bruised causing every little movement to result in tremendous pain, Lorne was still a trained and skilled warrior who fought with ferocity. Gunvold kept stepping backwards, dodging and side stepping the assault. Each time Gunvold would go to counterattack, Lorne would nimbly avoid the maneuver and double back with more slashes, the long sword granting him superior position and keeping the Behemoth at a distance. After several moments of the back-and-forth, Lorne finally achieved a tactical advantage, Gunvold had backed up as f
ar as he could go, his back hitting the steel wall. Lorne quickly seized the opportunity and did a powerful thrust with the sword, however Gunvold moved at the last minute, the blade sliced into the giant Tormos' side and drew blood. Gunvold quickly spun and before Lorne could back up to dodge the blow, delivered a powerful punch to Lorne's face.
Lorne was dazed from the impact, the force of the punch rivaling that of the giant stone constructs he had previously fought. Lorne went to step back but Gunvold was on top of him and within his guard. One of the Behemoth's hands locked onto his sword arm to keep the blade pointed away while the other began delivering punishing blows to Lorne's cracked ribs. The Phlebos cried out in agony as Gunvold continued to pulverize his already broken bones. The Behemoth twisted Lorne's sword hand and the high commander dropped his long sword. Still reeling in pain, Lorne was shoved hard by the giant and felt his back hit against the steel wall. Lorne shook his head to try and clear away the pain and disorientation when he saw a gleaming flash and then a searing pain rip through his left arm followed by another tremendous pain in his battered rib cage.
The Phlebos warrior looked down and went into shock, Gunvold had picked up Lorne's long sword when he had dropped it and then swung it, completely cutting off Lorne's left arm at the elbow and following through, slicing into Lorne's side. Blood was furiously pouring out of the stub his arm had become and the gaping wound in his side. Lorne went to stumble forward but Gunvold pushed him back again into the steel wall. The Behemoth took hold of Lorne's throat with a powerful grip and began squeezing. Lorne, with what little strength he had left, began punching freely at Gunvold's abdomen with his right hand but it was no use, it seemed as if the gargantuan Tormos didn't even feel the blows. With his other free arm, Gunvold reared back and delivered a solid punch to Lorne's face, a crunch was heard as the Phlebos' nose shattered and the high commander saw stars swim through his vision.
Before he realized it, Gunvold had punched him again, and again and again. Lorne saw and tasted only blood; his face had gone numb from the repeated blows. Gunvold had stayed true to his word; he was literally beating Lorne to death with his bare hands, pounding Lorne's face into a pulp. Another punch followed by another, Lorne's right arm went limp and dropped to his side; another punch was delivered followed by more. Lorne couldn't see, his world was darkness and suddenly his whole body became warm. He faintly felt another blow to his face, but he was detached now from his body. Lorne felt himself falling forever as if into a bottomless pit. As the loving husband slipped into darkness, he prayed to the Three that Tulinda and Thelais had already fled and that his death had not been in vain.
* * *
Gunvold let go of Lorne's body, the Phlebos' face beaten into an unrecognizable mass of gore. The once proud high commander fell lifelessly to the ground, a massive puddle of blood pooling around his devastated skull. Gunvold turned to the two Vesnian women who remained, neither of whom had fled. Gunvold clenched his fists tightly which were raw and bleeding due to the repeated blows he delivered to Lorne's face. The Behemoth himself was soaked in blood and gore; a specter returned from nearly two thousand years ago when he had slaughtered the Dallion tribe.
Thelais lay on the floor next to Tulinda, her face frozen in sheer terror, staring at the battered remnants of her husband. The pyromancer had gone nearly catatonic from the shock, her face visibly pale, she didn't move or utter a word. Gunvold began slowly walking over to the two as Tulinda removed her hood to reveal her beautiful thin face, a face which matched the icy resolve of Gunvold's. The Behemoth stopped before the motionless pyromancer and began to unsling Goredallion when, with no sign of emotion, Tulinda spoke to the man she once loved in a previous life. "Stop right there Gunvold."
The specter of death stopped and turned to Tulinda. He stood over the guild master of the geomancers, dwarfing her small figure. Showing no fear or intimidation as usual, the diminutive female Tormos spoke to the Behemoth. "Why did you do it Gunvold? What caused all of this meaningless slaughter?"
"You did Tulinda," said Gunvold calmly looking down at his former wife. For the first time since Gunvold had appeared, he had a look of genuine compassion on his face. "You caused me to do this. Long ago we made a pact. We had dreams of a shared future, but then you changed into what you are now. You were my world, the one person who understood me. I loved you with every ounce of my being, and when you changed, when you forsook everything we had worked towards, it broke me. The last straw was Thunvold's death; with him I lost the only other person who once shared our same vision. With the love of my life and my best friend gone, I realized what I must do. I alone must carry out the grand vision we once planned for, that of a united Vesnia where the Tormos rule supreme. I will forge an empire without the Three where I am God. If the Three have chosen to abandon me, then I choose to abandon them."
Gunvold reached out, Tulinda still unmoving, and gently gripped the arms of the geomancer in his blood-soaked hands. Gunvold gripped her not in anger but with a loving caress. Tulinda found it unsettling how hands which had caused so much pain and death could also be so tender. "I came here to ensure that you all would not succeed, for if Duvold's decision to send this expedition is justified, his reign will be assured. I came here with one goal: to make sure none of you come back alive. With your deaths, Duvold will fall. As we speak actions are being set in motion that will ensure the current emperor's removal from power. I will return after I have finished my work here and lead the rebellion that will topple Duvold. Then, once I am overlord of Juxton, I will invade and conquer Aunia, finally completing the grand vision we once dreamed of. Though you do not believe me, I do this for us."
Tulinda sighed and pulled away from her former husband, her long braided hair swaying with the movement. "Your love is misguided Gunvold, for I do not return it, and if what you say is true, then I am glad I am different, for the Tulinda you once knew sounds like a monster. Tell me grand champion, do you believe you are truly capable to kill me?"
Gunvold faintly nodded his head. "I take no joy in what I am about to do, but nothing matters anymore. The Three have forsaken me. They have forsaken us. Do not worry though my love, you will not feel a thing."
Tulinda smiled, a look of deep sadness in her eyes. "You should know how powerful I am Gunvold. Though my strength has waned from my previous exertions, you will never leave these caverns alive."
"I've been following and watching you all from afar from the minute you left Deep Ridge," said Gunvold calmly. "You are powerful my love, but I know you don't have enough energy to fully control the stones around us. "
Tulinda gently placed a hand on Gunvold's massive chest and smiled. "Who says I have to control the stones to stop you?"
When she finished speaking the room began to violently shake. The steel on the walls, floor and ceiling began screeching as shifting stones broke apart the metal plating. The floor itself bucked up and rocks began pouring down from the ceiling, a large stone landed on Corvul's cold corpse, splattering his ravaged body. Gunvold looked at Tulinda, his eyes wide in shock at what was occurring.
"There's no point in fleeing Gunvold," began Tulinda, "the entire cavern that this city and complex rests in is structurally weak; it has been damaged from eons of water erosion. For a long time these weakened stones have struggled to hold up everything around us, all I did was will the stones to let go. I am not controlling them; I simply pulled the pin that starts the collapse. In a matter of minutes this entire complex will be crushed underneath miles of rock and sink below the waters, lost forever. You killing me will have no effect on your fate, nor will you be able to escape. You told me a month ago in Deep Ridge that the only way to stop you was to bring down an entire city on top of you. I find this to be a fitting and ironic end, don't you?"
Gunvold stepped back and saw the resolve in Tulinda's eyes. Gunvold eyed the door and thought of making a run for it though he knew it to be futile. The complex began to shake more violently, a large boulder crashing through the steel ceili
ng and smashing one of the operating tables next to him.
Suddenly an even louder noise erupted from the large lake whose waves lashed out violently into the exposed room they stood in. A tidal wave from far out in the water began hurdling towards them with tremendous speed. All hope was lost; Gunvold knew he would never be able to escape the wave as it was mere seconds from crashing into their alcove. Gunvold turned back to Tulinda who was staring at the wave with mouth agape, a look of disbelief on her face. Gunvold yelled out to Tulinda in order to be heard over the roar of the wave approaching them. "WHAT IS IT?"
Tulinda continued to gawk dumbfounded at the wave, though she spoke, he could not hear her words. He could read her lips though: "The wave is not natural."
With that the wall of water struck and everything went dark for Gunvold. He felt himself get thrown with tremendous force and slammed against the wall, millions of gallons of water rushing over him and pressing him against steel. He struggled against the force but even with his gargantuan size and strength he could not defeat the elements. He opened his eyes and just saw swirling darkness all around him. He gasped and felt water pour into his lungs. As he slipped into unconsciousness, he felt gentle warm hands tenderly grip his body.
SECOND INTERLUDE
6 Years Prior to Present Day - 2007 AJD
Gunvold turned the corner in one of the countless non-descript hallways that snaked through the royal quarters of Juxon City. The grand champion burst into almost a full run down the passage, the various servants in the hall jumping out of his way else they get knocked over. After a few hundred feet he came to stop before a set of grey double doors. He gripped both handles and opened the doors wide. Gunvold stepped into the large receiving area of the home he and Tulinda shared in the royal quarters of the capital. Lounging about in the reception area were various geomancers including Duvold, the guild master. The grand champion snarled at seeing all the spell casters in his home. "All of you get out now!" The geomancers in unison stood up and looked at Gunvold with scorn on their faces.
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