Gavin violently yanks against the chains that hold him in a fit of unbridled rage he frantically breaks the constructs binding his throat and arms free, but with each chain he breaks two more are conjured to replace them. Alex watches the horror unfolding in front of him, with the increasing feeling of powerlessness swelling inside him; he watches the tablet consume more and more of the child's essence as its flaming aura turned from green to a bloody red.
"Take me instead!" pleads the squire "Leave the baby alone!" Maria turns her head and glances at him, her face didn't show a shred of compassion or sympathy. She turns her attention back to the tablet, places the child down and whispers,
"Grace's daughter has already stopped breathing." Gavin and Alex freeze in place, deep mutual feelings of sorrow and powerlessness grip them tight, with a hand gesture from the witch the chains binding them disperse into smoke but despite being free Gavin and his apprentice are crippled by shock, they could neither speak or move a muscle. She proceeds to stretch out her hand and place it on the tablet, the whole temple begins to shake as the tablet fires an energy beam that splits the sky "Before I build a new world, I must destroy the kings of this world." The pillar of light reforms itself into a dome, wrapping her in a cocoon of light. Alex feels her aura twist into something so sinister, it makes him want to puke, Is the person in that cocoons really Maria? He thinks. After what feels like an eternity the light begins to fade, in its dying light stands what only resembles the woman he loved, her flowing white robe has changed to black tatters, glowing red druid symbols cover her neck, arms and legs, her eyes an endless deep red, she looks like a goddess of death and destruction. Her followers begin to chant loudly falling to their knees in worship; Maria pays them no mind and walks towards the dumbstruck lad and his mentor.
Alex summons the strength to stand and slowly walks towards her; he doesn't know what to say, what can he say? It doesn't matter, Maria walks past him to stand in front of Gavin but the knight remains unresponsive.
"Once you are composed, you'll find me in the courtyard. You will be a worthy test for the song of corruption." With that she walks out of the chamber, her worshipers tail after her singing an ominous song of worship. Gavin rises to his feet and walks past the lad, to the still infant laying at the base of the tablet without saying a word. Alex follows him in silence, kneels and cradles the lifeless corpse of the baby, sobbing silently. Gavin gently plants his sword into the ground, from his blade's branches breaks through the stone and this growth blooms a bed of white flowers.
"Place the child down boy, now is not the time for tears." he feels Gavin's heavy hand lay on his head, comforting him. "If you seek retribution like I do, follow me." He looks up at his mentor; his eyes reflect stone cold unmoving resolve. This is what it means to be a knight Alex tells himself as he watches Blackthorn walk towards the exit in its pale moonlight. Gavin's words struck a nerve and instantly the lad knows what he has to do at this exact moment.
"Sleep well, little one…" Alex whispers as he places the child on the bed of flowers and rises to his feet. He follows Gavin out into the courtyard where Maria awaits.
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Alex stands by Gavin's side and concentrates his life force into the blade, setting it ablaze in green flames, from across the courtyard Alex and Maria's eyes meet. He can see the song of corruption radiating its maleficent intent through its host, with each moment that passes its aura grows in both size and malice; he has to end her before it consumes the world. Gavin thrusts his blade into ground; his blade disappears into the earth as seismic tremors begin to ripple across the forest. The ground under Gavin and Alex crumples beneath their feet giving way to a large black tree that carries them into the air, multiple identical vines break free throughout the ruins crushing many of Maria's followers in their chaotic awakening, the growth lashes back and fro then shoots towards Maria in a supersonic thrust.
The witch's corrupted aura expands into a great flame that towers over the tree, all that the vines that the light of her contaminated flame touch shrivel into dust and are blown by the wind.
"I expected more," retorts Maria as she crouches. "Then again what's a beast soul to magic; pure essence is the code all life springs from, this song corrupts all essence in its wake. Knights and monsters are powerless in the presence of my symphony." She gently places her finger on the ground, red energy ripples from where her finger touched, these cracks of corruption spread across the land turning flesh, wood, stone into dust in the wake of its devastation.
"This is a bad match up for the tree," Gavin says. "I can't even touch her."
"I will make an opening," says Alex as he takes off running and stops by the edge of the branch, from the height he can see the whole forest and it honestly scared him, but now wasn't the time for fear.
"How will you do that?" Calls Gavin.
"I am a mage and a knight, I'll be creative" retorts Alex before stepping of the edge, he descends the growth at a tremendous speed so he plants his sword into the tree to control his descent long enough to firmly place his feet against the plant, using the magic principal Maria taught him, he channels his life force into feet, using the magic to slip and slide from vine to vine as they crumble from Maria's curse, he has to be quick if any of the corrupted aura touch him that would be the end of his journey. With all his might he leaps into the sky as the last vine crumble into dust. He raises his magically enhanced sword over his head, his efforts catch Maria's eye. She points a finger at him and her flame moulds into several red chains that lash forward. Alex's perception of time slow as he sees the corrupted constructs reach for him, Is this how I die? He thinks as the time he spent with Maria flash through his mind every feeling and sensation he felt over the past week bubble up inside of him, every image he saw and every sound he heard pop in his mind all in a split second.
"No!" screams Gavin, but just as Maria's chains are about to touch him, a cloak of green flames manifest around his body, the chains wrap around him but are broken almost immediately. He crushes onto the ground, and advances towards Maria in a green comet.
"You created a barrier of life essence between your skin and my constructs," Maria says, as Alex jumps into the air and brings his sword crushing down in a horizontal sword slash. Red chains burst out of the energy cracks in the earth and entangle with Alex's sword just as it is about to split Maria's head down the centre. "Broinson you have come a long way from being that defenceless squire you were when we first met." The magic cloak disperses, and his blade withers into dust as he falls onto his ass before the witch, "I am sorry this is the end." Maria says slowly reaching for Alex's face as her hand becomes engulfed with corrupted energy. As the hand of death comes closer Alex sits there and sees a vision of the person Maria used to be, her warm smile, her adventurous eyes the perfect image of her in his head becomes corrupted by the present reality of what she is, her adventurous eyes now burning with pools of blood, her smile replaced by an otherworldly indifference.
A barrier made of ice, rapidly forms between Alex and the witch in the nick of time, before either of them could react a white light flashes behind Maria and from its brilliance Gavin springs forward swinging his blade in a vertical slash cutting her chest as red chains wrap around his torso. In the blink of an eye Gavin severs the chains and leaps back. The top half of his armour and his sword begin to disintegrate as he gives a blood lusted grin.
"My blade couldn't cut deep enough, for a mage you have good reflexes."
"That's high praise coming from the man, who severed my chains before the song could reach the body." Maria replies.
"Alex stay back; I will end this." Gavin orders as thorn vines burst out of his arms, intertwining in thorny black goblet of wood.
"Here is a trick I learnt from that old man Graham," retorts Maria with a foot stomp, corrupted spikes begin to burst out of the ground forcing Gavin to sway and weave out of their path, with a courageous yell he jumps at her with an aerial punch, the witch counters his attack by conjuring a shield, the shockwave from their collision echoes across the forest.
"You keep generating vines between the corruption and your skin, quite the risky gamble." says the witch. With a hand gesture a giant axe made of corrupted energy forms and falls towards the knight forcing Gavin to roll out of the way as it came crushing down in an earth shattering explosion, Gavin wastes no time after evading Maria's constructs dashing towards her in an all-out assault. "Let's see who will give in first." Maria smirks as a hollow replica of Gavin conjures from her twisted energy, the replica matches Gavin stride for stride meeting him head on, their fists pounding against each other in a berserker exchange.
Alex watches the exchange from the other side of the ice wall, and through its blurred surface he sees the cracks form in his goblets, with a massive collision of right hands one of his goblets shatter, the construct replica follows up with a quick jab that forces Gavin to block it with his remaining goblet, which shatters upon impact. With a confident smirk from Maria her construct throws a straight right at the recoiling Gavin, but the knight swerves under its punch whilst conjuring water from his left hand, the liquid solidifies into small sharp projectile which he flings with all his might at the witch. Blood trickles down Maria's face as her constructs disperses into red smoke.
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A hand made of her corrupted essence catch the ice projectile before the ice could impale her skull. Gavin pants heavily and falls to one knee. The ice barrier collapses allowing Alex to run around Maria and stand at Gavin's side.
"Pathetic, not only are you physically tired but you've also used up all your ingredients for the tree." The witch sneers.
"I don't need my powers to defeat you." Gavin retorts as he forces himself to stand,
"Powers or no Powers it's all the same in the end." says Maria, two flaming wings made of energy form on her back, "I must thank you two this was a good warm up, now I'll show you the power that will kill the Behemoth." Maria begins to ascend to the sky as Alex and Gavin can only look on. "Eighteen years in the making, Behemoth's requiem." She clasps her hands then slowly opens it to reveal a tiny red orb. Ferocious gusts of wind terrorize the forest as the orb gains mass growing several times in a matter of seconds, Alex knows if that ball touches the earth it will lead to a cataclysm on par with the Behemoth's rampage on emerald night, Gavin kneels and touches the earth,
"Come on!" he shouts as small vibrations shake the earth they stand on but the vibrations abruptly halt as Gavin vomits blood. Even now he's trying to push past his limits Alex thinks as he watches his mentor beat the ground in frustration. It would take a miracle to beat her; Alex decides to become that miracle.
"Don't do anything reckless, run away." Coughs Gavin as he wipes his mouth and rises to his feet "Don't worry; I won't let anyone die ever again. I will find a way to defeat her, even if I die in the process."
Alex examines the hilt of his disintegrated sword "If I run now, I would be a coward and an embarrassment." Foundation isn't enough Alex thinks. Mages like Maria, Graham and Atlas have been creating objects from their life force, it may be out of my league but I have to try. The lad closes his eyes and accesses the swirling pools of life energy in his core, "Reinforcing and supporting won't cut it this time, I must build and attack" The hilt of his blade begin to crack with green energy, just as Maria's orb eclipses the moon. In the darkness of his mind he draws out the green particles and stitched each particle atom by atom, he opens his eyes and a spear made of energy has formed in his palm.
"I didn't teach you construction." Says Maria, "You are a spark of endless possibilities, but I must snuff you out."
"Go ahead and try, but I won't die till I surpass my father." Alex retorts as he pumps more magic into his construct, "I only have one shot it needs more power." he thinks as he pumped more magic into his construct the spear grows brighter radiating a bright green light that illuminates where he stands, "It needs to be more refined." he thinks as the spear shrinks in size shifting its colour from a bright green to a fierce white. Gavin smirks at the sight of this, he reaches down picks up a stone and cuts his chest.
"I won't be upstaged by a rookie knight." He takes a deep breath and groans in pain, he clinches his chest and rips out a long black thorn. "This is the best I can do using my blood as water, the gas in my lungs and the light from the moon." Alex and Gavin smile at each other, before turning their attention to Maria who looks down at them with a sad expression on her face as black tears run down her face.
"Alex I am sorry it's come to this." Maria says as she brings her hand down and with it the orb in the centre of the sky comes crashing towards them. The knights yell as one and hurl their spears at the orb, Gavin's thorn bursts through the orb first clearing a path which Alex's construct followed after, the thorn disintegrates just as Alex's spear thundered through the orb, in a hypersonic shockwave finding its way to her heart. Maria gasps and looks down at the construct in her chest. "Is this how it ends?" She thinks as she descends, all those sacrifices, leading up to this conclusion, images of Grace, Atlas and Alex echo in her head as she falls, the corrupted essence slowly ooze out of her wound and mouth setting her a light in a brilliant red flame, a blurred image of figure cloaked in darkness smiling down at her and the distant roars of the Behemoth is the last thing she sees and hears before falling into complete darkness, the flames surrounding her erupt in a violent explosion, from this explosion a giant vortex of red energy with her in its centre expands to monstrous proportions.
The symbols Alex had seen on the first sage's statue flash in his head, without a second thought he bites his wrist till he tastes iron in his month and redraws the symbols on his arms. He claps his hands together as he channels the essence into the symbols engulfing them in emerald magic. Essence ripple across the ruins as writings of a long forgotten transcribes itself in a circle all around the teenager as a bright light swallows the ruins.
The vision that greets his eyes was a black sky with streaks of light of every colour imaginable, he drops his gaze from the sky and before him was a smiling shirtless man with long black and grey hair reaching his waist, his arms are covered in druid tattoos stretching from the tip of his fingers to his shoulders, his eyes are a bottomless black with glowing green pupils and a sandy desert stretching out as his eye could see behind him. Alex blinks but when he opens his eyes he sees streaks of red energy gently floating above him as the cries of a new born infant ring through the night. Alex tilts his head and sees Maria in her original form laying by his side with streams of tears running down her pain stricken face, despite everything she is still the most beautiful thing he has ever laid eyes on. He wanted to reach out and touch her but he feels that would be the wrong thing to do. So he closes his eyes as the baby's crying grow louder.
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A heavy iron door slowly crept open, Alex walks into a dark room where Maria is chained to an iron pillar,
"Even though all I ever did was lie to you, you look at me with those kind eyes." There is a moment of silence before Alex responds.
"It's pathetic you did what you did and I still can't hate you, every time I use magic I feel you right next to me. But I can't forgive you that would be the wrong thing to do, I doubt we will see each other again, I wanted to say thank you and goodbye." Alex turns but Maria's voice calls out to him.
"How is she?"
"She's healthy but her essence pathways have been permanently altered, her essence is now that of corruption. Since she has no living relatives Graham has stepped in and adopted her, hopefully he can teach her how to control it." Retorts Alex, as he closes the door behind him he adds, "Her name is Grace." The last thing he sees in the holding room is Maria's smile.
Alex walks out the stone gates of White Stone where Gavin casually leans against a pillar with his arms folded.
"What will happen to her?" Alex says with his back turned on his mentor.
"Knights from the Highest Order will come and take her to the capital, where she will most likely be tried and executed." Gavin retorts. "The journey is long. We need to get going." Gavin adds stoically as he steps out of the gate.
"The Behemoth made her this way right?" Gavin halts and looks at Alex sideways as he thought carefully of what he was going to say next.
"Yes, some scars never heal. Some people will keep bleeding on everything they love and hold dear untill there's nothing left but a husk of shell at the mercy of that that scarred them."
"How do i save someone like her?"
"You don't." answers Gavin as he looks away.
"One day you'll understand."