Zathor stood chained to a pole, not far from the Betrayer's table and maps, and he was there. Zathor wondered what the betrayer hoped to Accomplish, the only living member of Zathor's family was Amara, and she, at the age of ten, lacked the means of crossing the ocean to get to Tiplora.
"Sir, Dolga the ritualist has requested assistance in the ashlands on Tiplella." One of the Commanders said.
"What's that fool doing?" The Betrayer asked.
"He says he's found festand, and The Cannoness Superius." The commander said.
"No, we had the cannoness superius, the Illusionist was supposed to execute her. Are you telling me the sisters elita have gotten their hands dirty for the first time in twenty-three years?" The betrayer asked.
"No sir, it's the canoness, who led the order of the temporal dragoness twenty-three years ago."
In a bout of Rage, the Betrayer, Flipped the table he was working at.
"Why do I have to do everything myself? Send the damn reinforcements, if this puts us off course, I'LL KILL HIM!" The betrayer said, and the commander silently nodded before rushing off.
"What's the matter, Draxion?" Zathor asked weakly, "Can't handle a 'minor setback'?" Calling things, a 'Minor Setback' was what the Betrayer always did when Zathor reported a major loss when he worked for him, it always enraged Zathor that he simply flicked off things a major as a military Loss on the board of the northern region against the Order of the Temporal Dragoness
"I will show you your place before this is through, Zathor." He replied, his voice seething with rage.
"Very little will deter me from bringing down your regime, especially because of what you did four years ago." Zathor said.
"One thing very much will." He replied, before storming off
Three hours passed and he was nowhere to be seen. Zathor hear screams in the distance, he wondered it was a nearby town, being tortured by the betrayer. A minute later Zathor saw a black figure on the horizon, but as it moved closer, it was definitely too short to be a wraith the figure started firing arrows, it those hits that landed, it was almost as if Zathor saw their souls be destroyed from a poison on the arrows, there were only two people Zathor knew that used poison like that: Lilly and Xomera.
"So…" Zathor muttered weakly, she couldn't hear it, but Zathor hoped she saw how happy he was to see her., "You've come back. Guess I'm not the only stubborn one."
The enemy soldiers around Zathor moved to fight Xomera, and not long after that, Zathor heard the lock to his chains Break, he was surprised, as they fell to the floor, he turned around to find that it was Amara.
"Amara?" Zathor said, Shocked and impressed that she managed to get her from tiplora, "This day is certainly full of Surprises."
"Come on, we need to get out of here while they're distracted." Amara mumbled.
"That may be a problem." Zathor said, "The betrayer has no intention of letting any of us leave here alive." Zathor Said as he heard Xomera finish the last of the initial defenders. All of the gates to the makeshift fortress shut, and Locked, trapping them all in there. They weren't very tall, but the walls were stone, and Zathor was too weak to climb.
The Betrayer walked out on one of the raised areas, above the three of them. All eighteen wraiths descended onto the raised area around the area they were standing in. the Betrayer obviously wasn't expecting Amara, but was improvising nonetheless
"It appears there is one more Guest than we had planned for." The Betrayer said, "No matter, you'll die as you should have in the first place. That was my mistake, not making sure you were all there in the first place."
Xomera immediately Blasted a fireball at the betrayer, Who Didn't flinch, as he usually did, he meant Business this time, the wraiths teleported into the Arena, and as per usual, although weaponless, Zathor Positioned himself between the wraiths and Amara. The Betrayer Leapt off of his vantage and was dead set on Killing Xomera first. Xomera tossed her longsword to Zathor, feeling as if she didn't need it, and wanting him to be able to watch Uber Amara. She pulled out her bow, and immediately knocked back three nerve poisoned arrows shooting them straight for him. Afterwards, she backed them with her Eldridge blast, causing them to hit with more force and do more piercing damage, as she commanded her fire elemental to focus on the betrayer.
The wraiths All moved to Teleport strike not Zathor, But Amara, when Zathor Noticed this, he forced his already wounded body in front of Amara, and took eighteen Slashes, if it wasn't for his armor, he's dead
Zathor then, using the longsword Xomera tossed him, with one massive slash through all eighteen wraiths back. Zathor Looked back to see how things were going with Xomera and the Betrayer. The fir elemental was unlucky enough to have been Caught by the neck by the Betrayer and thrown aside at a force that would have killed a normal Person. The Betrayer then Moved to Strike at Xomera, in front of him, the wraiths were getting ready for another teleport strike.
Xomera summoned her magic blade using it to parry her, before making an attacking blow, where after she Eldridge blasted him forty feet away, shooting three more poisoned arrows into him as he landed. The wraiths Teleport strikes were for Zathor this time around so, one by one, Zathor Parried their attacks until they got to High King Sabrim, who Dropped his longsword, and Drew his hammer before teleport striking, Zathor could not parry his hammer Strikes, So Zathor Dodged out of the way of the first attack, But the second one Landed, and it threw Zathor Past Xomera and The Betrayer, Leaving Amara alone against 17 wraiths, one of which was Gwendolyn Dragon-loom. Sabrim teleported to Catch up to Zathor, and he Caught Zathor, as Zathor got up, and the Hammer Swung Upwards, with the most force Zathor had ever received from a Melee weapon Shattering his front Chest piece, but this time Zathor Landed on his feet.
Using his Magic to attempt to remotely gain control of the wraiths, Zathor knew it would fail, it was supposed to, but it had the side effect of forcing the wraiths to focus on him, which is what he wanted.
At watching her father get attacked and watching his chest plate Amara grow worried and protective, her rage that had been building up quickly taking over. In a moment, she raised her hand, grabbing ahold of every undead fiber in the high king and forcing him to his knees, though it took contraction and struggle to hold him there for her father to do anything with this advantage.
Xomera's attention shifted to her husband in worry when he went flying past her, giving a moment to the betrayer to attack her, that was he would have had the chance, if the fire elemental hadn't attacked him from behind, which it did. When the fire Elemental attacked him, the Betrayer Grabbed it once again, and threw it at Xomera, and then as Amara was Holding back the Betrayer moved to attack her, one strike would surely kill her, Zathor forced himself to Teleport in front of the strike, and he took it, and then the Betrayer moved to strike again, this time at Zathor, who caught the mace, and with his sheer strength alone, Shattered the head of the mace, leaving a metal stick in its place.
Zathor Backhanded the Betrayer, and then unleashed a flurry of blows in his fists, every last ounce of anger, hatred, fear, and resentment that Zathor Had for the betrayer was unleashed, his manipulation of Zathor which lead to the death of Zathor's Sister, Zanna, several undeserving deaths of the people under Zathor's command, the stupidity of writing major losses off as 'minor setbacks', the slaughter of thousands, Xomera's Death, the attempt to kill amara on several occasions, and the attempt to Kill Xomera again, as well as using Zathor as bait for this very encounter, came to the forefront of his rage and anger towards the Betrayer. The final Strike Shattered the Betrayer's Helmet.
The man underneath Staggered back, the blood dripping from his face. He gave Zathor a Pleased Glare, his eyes began glowing a hellish Orange.
"There's the Zathor I remember." He said, raising his fists for a brawl, "So much more interesting than the oaf I chained to a pole." He threw his first punch which Landed, but the Second one Zathor Countered, throwing the betrayer into the Crowd of approaching wraiths, but he Quickly recovered.
Xomera threw him another forty feet right as he was about to recovered with her favored Eldridge blasts. Again, as he reached the end of those forty feet, she once again pierced him with poisoned arrows, however with four this time.
Amara continued to hold the high king down with her blood magic, however as her rage only grew, her power only grew. She began to slowly start crushing him into the ground, blood starting to drip from her nose, Zathor took note of this and ran over to Sabrim, his Armor Buckling under Amara's magic, but he was Broken, So Zathor Pulled him upwards, and placed his hand where Sabrim's face would be, and banished him.
The remaining wraiths analyzed their situation, they may have been bound to the Betrayer's will, but they were far from Mindless, they knew where there was a fight they could not win. And so did the betrayer who teleported away before anyone could cast dispel magic or counterspell.
Xomera let out a small breath, her elegant footing finally falling as she lowered her bow. Finally, her mask was peeled back, showing just how terrified she had been.
Amara falter a step towards as the force finally relented, before shakily pulling a hand to her bleeding nose after the glow faded from her eyes. Her breath was raged from the exertion and shock she was now facing.
Zathor's wounds began to Catch up to him, they weren't fatal by any means, but they hurt, badly, and he was still bleeding, he ended up falling to one knee, in a Groan of Pain. he gave a deep breath, looking down at the Hammer wound he sustained. I'm going to need to forge a new chestpiece. Zathor thought, but then he stood up.
"Are you two hurt?" Zathor asked.
Xomera turned to her husband, watching him drop as worry immediately took over her. In a moment she used a spell, healing most of his major wounds, and leaving only a few minor ones behind. "I'm fine, Amara is as well, thanks to you." Xomera mumbled gently, Zathor nodded, and walked over to Amara, and Kneeled down in front of her.
Amara didn't say anything, shaken up too much to. She held her bleeding nose in silence, her gaze on the floor, but otherwise seemed physically fine.
"What's wrong, other than the usual?" Zathor asked, worried, it was an extreme show of power by Amara, and at her age she should be unconscious due to the exhaustion such a feat not on just any wraith, but one of the most powerful wraiths, should have on a Child of only ten.
"There's something wrong with me…" the girl mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper.
"What makes you say that?" Zathor asked, knowing what it was, he had a feeling it was whatever caused her shift in eye color.
"I- the- there's something inside me… that makes me angry… that lets me do things I shouldn't be able to… that takes over… that's not afraid of almost everything…" Amara said, Zathor wasn't entirely sure how to respond.
"It doesn't change who you are," Zathor replied, "I will help you figure it out, but please remember, it doesn't change who you are, you're still you under all of that, but I promise, I will help you figure it out."
"It's been here awhile, for a few years, but it's never been this angry before… never reacted this much…" Amara whispered in fear.
"I know." Zathor replied softly, "we will get to the bottom of it, but for now we should probably get home. Zathor Looked over to Xomera, due to his Height, it was when he lowered himself, as he did to speak with Amara, that he could much more easily look Xomera in the eye, "Have I ever told you how much I owe you?"
Amara hugged onto her father silently at his words, the girl seeming genuinely terrified of whatever was rubbing through her mind, Zathor hugged her back. Xomera looked back to Zathor, only shaking her head slightly at his words. "You need rest, dear." Zathor nodded in agreement.
"I do." Zathor replied.
She walked forward, placing her hand gently on his cheek as she offered him a small smile, leaning her head against his. "I'm glad you're alright."
"I'm glad you are, too." Zathor said, giving her a kiss, "Oh, by the way, I think you had more help than expected, as it turns out, Lilly linked up with Greggory and Alayna, as well as a ranger and a couple others, and all together they forced the betrayer to send reinforcements back, our good friend draxion threw quite the fit upon learning of this."
Xomera gave a small hum at the man's words, savoring the kiss and happy to be back with him. "I'm glad, but my main focus is you at the moment, dear."
"Let's head home." Zathor replied, speaking to both Xomera and Amara.
Xomera stepped back, leaving room for him to stand so she could use what she had left to return them home to rest.
Amara didn't let go of her dad, not wanting to. She didn't want to lose him again, and she was still terrified by something, though what was hard to tell, Zathor would figure it out, sooner or later, if it was the last thing he did. And at last, they plane shifted home.
Zathor got plenty of rest and did his best to make sure Xomera and Amara did, too. Zathor also put his effort into figuring out what Amara was dealing with. He also made an effort to spend more time at home, so a repeat of once happened would never again plague them.