Chereads / Delphine of Moria / Chapter 12 - The Curse of Solna

Chapter 12 - The Curse of Solna

As he spoke, Delphine was getting herself ready to go and making sure that she had everything she needed to be walking alone. All she ever carried on her back beside a bow and many arrows was a large ebony sword, and her mind was still as sharp as her blade.

Then, she said to Simon, "If you want my advice, don't follow me. Remain here or remain hidden if you wish to walk outside. And you better be prepared with a weapon if you're outside in the night. If you ever do hear of me, then check out the nearest tavern where much important information is passed out every day. I must be going. See you around, Simon."

"Yeah, so long," Simon said. As she was walking away, Simon stood there and started to think about what he believes he must do.

He knew that he no longer had a place in Eastmarch, and he knew that he'll be shunned out if he reveals any unwanted information for the people. So, in secret, Simon follows Delphine from behind, for he believes he might find a worthwhile purpose in life; this seemed to be rather pleasing for the young hunter to be following the Ebony Knight.

It was in the cold hours of the long morning that Delphine of Moria stumbled upon the village of Solna. This village wasn't as big as Eastmarch, and there are rarely any people who ever walk around during the day. All of the windows of the houses, shops, and taverns were closed, unlike the previous village; something strange was happening around here. Delphine stopped walking on the road, and she stood there and gazed upon all of the abandoned buildings. She started to realize that something was off, and it was bizarre considering the part of the day it was.

Delphine continued to walk forward into the village, and she held onto the handle of her ebony dagger to stab anyone who would raise a weapon against her. She began to look at all of her surroundings to check and see if anyone would either come out and see anything. To her surprise, absolutely nobody came outside to live out their day or bury their dead; something was off and needed some explanation. She looked at her other direction and saw absolutely nothing but the many buildings which seemed like it was in ruins. The walls of those buildings were cracking, and a few of them were starting to fall apart; it was quite rare to see how much damage the night hordes can do to a small village.

"Everyone's indoors. Given the number of victims, they're all scared to death. No wonder they're afraid to be outside," Delphine said. As she stood there, she started to see a strange man walking towards her, and he seemed to be just like the other villagers.

The man had short hair, he has white hair even though he appeared to be a young person, and he had a weird look on his face. He didn't seem like someone who would threaten an entire village, but there was something inside him which made everyone fearful of going outside. He also didn't look like he would hurt anybody, but Delphine knew that there is terrible darkness inside of him. Delphine's eyes started to grow big, and she slowly began to walk even closer to the man; she was determined to finish him off.

"So you're the one who has been causing all of this confusion. I thought you would've looked more monstrous," Delphine said.

"Yes. You've got that right. I never dreamed you would come alone. I was hoping there would be another person next to you," the man said.

"You're out in the open. The villagers will see your true form. They're probably watching us right now."

"Forget about it. There's no reason to hide anymore."

As he said this, four more people began to walk towards Delphine, and they all stood beside the mysterious man. But, they all transformed themselves to become like the creatures of darkness, and they were all carrying weapons. It was no wonder that nobody who lived in the village of Solna ever came out of their homes for a whole week.

"We are the rightful rulers of this world. Humans exist to serve our kind. But lately, you seem to think you can resist us," the man said.

Four of them. That figures. This could be bad. Delphine thought.

"Hey, she's getting ready," a demon said.

"That's brave of you, taking on all five of us at once," another demon said.

"Five?" Delphine asked. She had no idea what that demon was talking about; she could only see four of them being with the demon-possessed man.

Then, she started to hear flapping noises and sounds of someone or something that was flying, but she couldn't see where it was coming from. A second later, a demon with wings came down towards her, and she dodged that creature and pulled out her greatsword.

"Ebony Warrior! You are not wanted here. You are not welcome here. We shall tear your flesh open!" The demon shouted.

"Wings? So, you can fly. Come to me, and we'll end this!" Delphine shouted.

"Die, human!"

Then, the demon flew as fast as possible towards Delphine while holding his sword, and he was ready to tear her apart. It was not common to see Demons with wings, let alone those who carried swords on their backs. Delphine easily blocks the oncoming attack with her blade, and all of the other demonic beasts started charging after her. She also pierces her sword onto the ground, and she does a front flip and lands behind one of them. But the winged beast had no fear of what would happen to him, and he would not rest until he saw the Ebony Warrior lie dead.

Then, the winged beast flew behind Delphine and kicked her onto the ground, and she slowly gets herself back up. She knew that this foe is very tricky to take down, but she dared to figure out his weak spot and take on this creature.

"I think our little game ends here. So tell me, warrior of the night, how do you choose to die?" The winged beast asked.

"If I die, it shall not be in vain. And if I am split open this night, I shall drag you down with me back to Hell!" Delphine shouted. After she said that, one of the demons stood behind her again, and he was about to cut her down with his sword.

Then, Delphine easily blocks the attack with her sword, and she stood ready to take all of the demons on before she could move forward. Delphine had massive skills and strength when it came to fighting back with the sword; she could take on as many demons as she can. She began to fight back against every single devil that stood before her as the significant wind blew in the sky. The demons did not expect to fight such a powerful foe, and all hope seemed to fade away from them. As she fought them, blood and gore started to splatter and stain the ground, the buildings, and her greatsword.

Afterward, the demon-possessed man also started to be fearful of the Ebony Warrior, and all of the demons which he controlled were already dead. Delphine walks up to the man, and she was keen on either ending his life or letting him walk away just to die another day.

"I see now. I thought it was strange that five demons needed to hunt in a pack. But weak ones need others like them to lick their wounds," Delphine said.

"That wench. A mere human defeated an entire pack of demons," the man said. Before he could say anything else, Delphine runs up to him and cleaves him in two, and the demon-possessed man could not move any longer.

Then, he turned to Delphine and said to her, "You will never defeat us all, Ebony Knight. You will go down a path of which you will never escape. Be certain of that."

And so, the demon-possessed man takes one last breath and dies on the blood-soaked ground along with his pack of demons. Then, Delphine looks up to the sky, and she saw the winged demon flying away to end up someplace else. The beast had so much difficultly to drift away from his enemy, and not even he could believe that a single person defeated all of his comrades. Even the master whom he served was slain from the Ebony Warrior, and he knew he had to make it somehow out alive. Delphine simply stood there and watched the demon fly away from her as the hot wind continued to breeze.

Then, a whole fit of rage and strength started to enter Delphine's mind and soul, and she knew she had to kill the winged demon one way or another.