I ducked under a wild slash from the large hobgoblin and delivered a series of jabs to its head. The blows knocked it off balance and allowed me to shove past it and run. I did this for two reasons. One: I had very little desire to kill the beast. And two: I was in a hurry to find my friends.
I slid to a stop at a fork in the dark hallway and listened for the sounds of battle… I sprinted down the path on my right after hearing the sound of blades clashing. After a few seconds of running a tingling at the back of my neck caused me to dive into a fast roll. Not a second after I dove, a large axe came out of a side passage, passed through the space my head previously occupied and embedded itself into the ever-present obsidian wall that seemed to be a staple of this place.
I'm not even sure why I was in this situation. I rolled to my left and just barely managed to avoid the large black hoof that almost caved my head in. I climbed to my feet and furrowed my brows in annoyance at the eight-plus-foot tall minotaur glaring down at me: Its blood red fur stood out in the dimly lit hallway and its glowing yellow eyes sent a shiver down my spine.
I was the son of a farmer and a teacher. And yet, ever since meeting him, I've been put into countless life or death situations. This was just one of many.
I dodged the right hook that would've taken my head clean off and pushed off the ground with my left foot. I sprung forward and slammed my right elbow into its groin. The beast groaned in pain and took a step back. Then I delivered a swift front kick to its testicles. It dropped to its knees. I vaulted over its head, then hurriedly pried the axe free from the wall.
Just as I dislodged it I had to jump back to avoid the haymaker left thrown by the minotaur. I dodged under another swing and swung the heavy axe blade into the beast's right thigh: cleaving through flesh and bone.
It roared in pain as its other leg gave way and it collapsed forwards under its own weight. Then I spun around and buried the axe into the throat of the beast: Its forward momentum and the sheer weight of the axe caused the blade to tear through and remove the beasts head. I was sprayed with its bright red blood and my outfit: which consisted of a loose white robe, black trousers, leather boots, and heavy iron bands on my wrists to be dyed dark red.
I wiped the blood from my face, jumped over the now headless minotaur, and continued sprinting down the corridor with my new toy: A large silver-bladed axe with a four-foot shaft.
I eventually came to a small open area: about fifteen-feet in diameter, with a swarm of goblins viciously attacking a slim figure on the ground. The goblins were having difficulty doing any real damage with either their clubs or daggers due to the clear hard-light shield the figure had conjured to protect themselves. But the sheer weight of the attackers had driven them into the ground.
"Stay down!" I yell.
I shifted my weight, slid to a stop, and with a quick spin I launched the axe at the swarm. The axe hit blade first a bisected a number of the creatures. Though most were simply knocked away from the figure on the ground. The figure was revealed to be a young woman in a black and red robe: She had waist length black hair, dark eyes, fair skin, and looked to be no older than my own twenty-four years. Her name is Kim Sujin. And she's one of the four people I've been traveling with for the last five years.
She used the opportunity to rapidly expand her shield and throw any remaining goblins off of her.
"Thanks for the save!" She replied in a light tone.
She sprung off the ground and landed gracefully by my side.
"Thank me later."
I used the iron bands around my wrists to parry slashes from two advancing goblins. Then I grabbed the wrist of the closest one, twisted it around, and lifted him into the air. Two quick jabs to the side of the throat stunned the creature long enough for me to use his body as a club to bash the other goblin into the ground.
I thrust my right leg out and kicked another goblin in the face—Which caved in both its nose and eye sockets.
"Ready!"
I stepped to the side of a dagger, grabbed the offending goblin and threw him into the path of the hard-light wave that reduced most of the room to ash while I ducked into a nearby corridor.
Sujin was left standing in the center of the room with her left arm extended and steam rising from her palm. She took a deep breath to regain her composure, then winked at me. "Took you long enough."
I stepped into the room and tried to hide the exhaustion I'd been feeling for the last hour or so. Unlike the rest of my friends/teammates. I didn't have any special skills or powers to aide me in combat or otherwise. I'd been running throughout this castle while fighting for my life for over two hours, and it was showing. I was growing more sluggish by the minute and eventually, either my will or my body would give in… But that time isn't now.
"I got lost." I shrugged.
She let out a little laugh and rolled her eyes. "Only you, Arthas."
"What happened to the others?" I asked. I walked over to her and began inspecting her for any obvious wounds… Aside from a few scrapes, bruises, and some redness in her cheeks. She appeared to be fine.
"Um," she coughed into her hand. "We got separated about twenty minutes ago. Rin, Jon, and Ling all continued to press forward while I held off these guys… How about you?"
"After my… accident. I ended up in the basement and have been trying to find you guys ever since."
An explosion rocked the castle and caused Sujin and I to lose our balance. I pulled her body close to mine and landed on my back with her on my chest to protect her from the fall.
"You okay?" I asked after the room stopped shaking a few seconds later.
"Y—Yeah."
"Looks like Ling finally found who he was looking for."
She pushed off my chest and climbed to her feet without looking at me. "No time to lay around, then. We better get up there before Ling blows us all to hell."
"Right."
I followed Sujin as she entered a corridor at the far end of the room. We ran down the hallway for several seconds, then turned left into a narrow alcove that led to a staircase going up. Continuing at our current pace. We made it to the top of the stairs and found ourselves in what appeared to be a storage room with empty crates, barrels, and sacks were thrown haphazardly around the room. At the far end of the room was a set of double doors with a large hole in the center of the left-most one. On the other side of the door, I could see two figures clashing against each other in rapid succession.
"Ling!" Sujin yelled. She ran to the door and dove through the hole, rolled to her feet, and immediately joined the battle.
Before I could move to join her. I heard the sound of armored footsteps charging up the stairs behind me. Now, I was presented with a choice… Follow Sujin into the next room where our friends were waiting and the 'final battle' was taking place… Or stay here and prevent reinforcements from joining their master in the next room.
"Prepare to die, Demon King!" I recognized the voice of Yu Ling on the other side of the door. His voice was followed by a massive explosion and a demonic scream of pain.
"My path is clear then," I said to myself.
Ling and the rest could handle the demon king. However, if the rest of his army swarms them before Ling can deal the final blow, then we'll all die.
I took off my bloodstained robed and tore the fabric into two long strips that I then wrapped around my fists. I cracked my knuckles, neck, and stretched out my back. Then I turned and walked back down the stairs to MY final battle. Win or lose, this was the last time I risked my life for Ling and his dreams.
I, Arthas Tegna, was the son of a farmer and a teacher. But after the death of my parents and being saved by Ling and the others. I swore to help him fulfill his dreams… Well, he's got what he wanted: He got the girl, he got the money, he got the power, and after this is over he'll have the glory.
"After this… Maybe I'll go back to my village, meet a nice girl and settle down… Yeah," I stepped into the darkness of the stairwell and saw the uncountable number of glowing red eyes glaring back at me. "That would be nice…"
At the sound of an armored foot moving. I leaned forward and leaped into the darkness. My fist slammed into the face of a hobgoblin: It's dark green skin made it nearly impossible to see. But it was the eyes that gave it away. They glowed in an eerie red and made for a great target to aim for.
The hobgoblin was blown back and crashed into those behind him; causing a loud clattering of weapons as they tumbled down the stairs.
Without giving them a moment to recover. I jumped after them and viciously attacked anything that came within reach: Hobgoblins had their bones broken, Goblins were used as makeshift clubs to keep the larger creatures at bay. And even a minotaur that managed to squeeze into the narrow stairway had its own weapon turned against it.
I fought until the sound of my friend's victory reached my ears and my enemies turned and fled after the death of their master. After which, I collapsed onto the cold marble floor in relief and promptly passed out beside a mound of corpses…
After an unknown amount of time had passed, I was shaken awake. My still blurry eyes opened to see a familiar face of Ling smiling down at me: His long dark hair was covered in dirt and ash. His dark eyes held a friendly light within them as he watched me.
"That's a shame. I was hoping you were already dead so I wouldn't have to do this."
"Wh—" A sharp pain erupted in my chest. My vision faded in and out as I slowly moved my eyes until I could see the wicked looking dagger stabbed deep into the center of my chest… With Ling's hand still tightly holding the handle.
"Sorry, Arthas. I can't have you hogging all the glory."
My mouth opened to protest, but nothing would come out. My lungs were on fire and blood was slowly pooling at the back of my throat. I tried to move my arms— To pry the blade free from my chest. But I was too weak to move and could only watch in horror as it was slowly rotated in place and pushed even deeper into my chest.
Ling watched as I slowly bled out with that same kind smile he always wore on his face.
"Don't worry. I'll take good care of Sujin for you. So you rest easy… okay?" He clearly saw the pain and rage in my eyes. But that only seemed to make his smile widen even more. "Don't give me such a scary look, Arthas. When I saved you all those years ago you swore that your life was mine until my dream was fulfilled… Well… Time to collect on your promise." He tore the blade free from my chest and quickly stabbed it into my throat. "My dream is for you to die and for me to become the next great hero of the nation… And I can't very well do that if you, a mere commoner with little more than some martial arts training, outshine me by holding off the demon kings army alone… Can I?"
The blade was ripped out the front of my neck and he was sprayed with my blood. Darkness quickly filled my vision and before I even knew what was happening… I was dead.