Asherons Call: Throne of Dark Destiny: Chapter XI

"Let the final stories begin."
~Storyteller, author of this tale.

"And finally I twist my heart round again, so that the bad is on the outside and the good is on the inside, and keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and could be, if there weren't any other people living in the world."
~Ann Frank

"Barricade the gates!" shouted Sultress, as she nocked another deadly acid arrow and took aim over the wall at one of the Viamontian archers outside. The city was in chaos all around her.

"Fear in me so deep it gets the best of me,
In the fear I fall, here it comes face to face with me,
Here I stand hold back so no one can see,
I feel these wounds, step down, step down,
step down."

The sky, which had grown ashen and cloudy that evening, was given a sadistic sanguine glow from the fires that already raged out of control; blazes that had been started by a shower of lethal fire arrows shot by six Viamontian Hands that had remained a good distance from the town while their melee comrades had attacked.

Why hadn't the town watchmen warned the city before the melees were inside, she wondered. It was too late now, though. They were inside the walls, and the sounds of clashing weapons, the screaming of the dead and dying, and the horrid wailing of the wounded drowned out any further speculation she may have had as to how this had occurred. Now was the time to fight.

"Breaking Down
Can I break away
Push me away, make me fall,
Just to see, another side of me,
Push me away, you can see,
what I see, the other side of me."

She the arrow fly and it zipped through the air with lightning speed striking the bow string of one of the archer's weapons. It sizzled and gave out a sharp *twaaang* as it snapped. The armor of the Viamontian forces was too thick to be breeched without imperiling magic, but she could still disarm them and prevent any further hail of arrows.

"Fear not, peaceful citizens of Arwic! We come only to rid ya's of yer' griefer problems!" shouted Contageous. He placed a muddy boot on the throat of Rubber Band Man, and jerked his weeping sword out of the dead man's chest.

"Fall back on me, and I'll be the strength I need,
to save me now, just come face to face with me,
stay in place you'll be the first to see, me heal these wounds,
step down, step down, step down, down"

Ah, the joys of battle! The thick stench of a slaughterhouse could never compare to the rich and deeply satisfying perfume of a battlefield, he thought. And, even if the invasion was somehow repelled, he knew that he could justify his actions by claiming to be working against Ilumini. Monarchs like Number-Sun and Striderlongshanks would instantly accept his explanation, and may very well erect a statue to commemorate his bravery.

Sultress took aim once more. She had managed to sever five of the archer's bow strings. So focused was her attention on the task at hand that she was unaware of Mujuro, who approached with withdraw weeping claw on the ready, quietly sneaking up behind her.

"I'm not breaking, down
can I break away
push me away, make me fall,
just to see another side of me,
push me away you can see,
what I see, the other side of me"

The weeping claw, a gift from Ebon, glistened maliciously in the light from the nearby blacksmith's shop, which had gone up in flames like a stack of dry hay and now more resembled a glutenous bonfire than a building.

He raised the claw in preparation of driving it into her back, well aware that she most likely hadn't had enough time to bane her tinkered scalemail. Still, it was a shame to ruin it, for it was such a lovely shade of purple and he had always taken great pride in that color.

"Go!"

"Aiiiieeee!" came a loud squeak behind him. He turned, just in time, as it struck him full force in his left eye causing him to drop his weeping claw from the wall and clutch at his throbbing eyeball.

"Ahh!" he cried, his blurred vision focusing on Zero Night, who at the moment was partially hidden behind a barrel of salted pork outside of the grocer's store down the street. "You hit me in the eye with a spoon you nasty little meanie!"

Zero Night responded in the most appropriate way he knew how...by sticking out his tone and darting into the grocer's when Mujuro leapt off the wall to give chase.

Sultress, having heard Mujuro's painful screech, had spun around in time to see him leap from the wall behind her to rush after a shrieking little man by the grocer's. Mujuro wasn't the only one who had noticed her either. Between cutting down town people and overpowering town defenders, several Viamontian Hands had noticed the reduced amount of arrows that were falling on the battle, and looking around for the cause had taken notice of the archeress.

"Fall, can I break away
push me away, make me fall,
just to see another side of me,
push me away you can see,
what I see, the other side of me"

Now, three Viamontians had emerged from a nearby watch tower and were closing the distance to her fast. She flung her bow over her shoulder and turned, running as fast as she could towards the opposite watch tower.

The east wall tower had been undergoing recent repairs; the result of a stray Crushing Shame spell that had missed its mark by several yards. Many of the stones near the top of the structure required replacements - replacements that had been hoisted to the top by a series of ropes and pulleys on the tower's side.

With the Viamontian Hands almost upon her, their weapons thirsting sharply for her life, Sultress made a desperate leap.

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"Whoa! They're killing a bunch of people!" said Ridix enthusiastically. The exit portal of the dungeon had dropped he, Myst, Ilumini, and Zero Night directly into the middle of the town square. Zero Night had run off immediately after exiting portal space, squealing like an overzealous schoolgirl at the opportunity for more combat.

Myst looked around in horror at the butchery taking place around them. The smoke from the many burning buildings hung like a grey cloak around everything, and it had a reddish haze in places where fires cast light like fireflies in the dark clouds. A great number of people rushed around, some trying to escape the merciless Viamontian swords, others carrying buckets of well-drawn water to put out the fires.

Myst pulled out her slash rending gold sceptre, and watched helplessly as a Viamontian Hand near the doorway of a house drove its sword through a woman who had fallen while running.

"We've got to do something!" shouted Myst, frantically attempting to vuln a Viamontian that Ridix had already begun launching deadly frog crotch arrows at.

"No one can see anything on the other side of me
I walk, I crawl, loosing everything and waiting for the downfall
No one can see everything on the other side of me
I walk, I crawl loosing everything on the downfall.
Downfall, Fall."

Ilumini turned without a word and began walking calmly to the city gates to leave.

"Ilumini, where are you going? We need you!" cried Myst, her voice barely audible over the screams and cries for help.

"It's not my problem," replied Ilumini calmly, and he turned once more to leave.