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My master once told me that time is a tangled web… one that is difficult to control… And he was right!
[Get that hourglass under control!] yelled an elder dragon
[...]
[Chromie… what are you doing?] continued the dragon
[I'm sorry Nozdormu… but this is the only way!] said Chromie as the hourglasses in front of her exploded in a passion of sand.
[No! What have you done? CHROMIE!] yelled Nozdormu, as he stared into a vortex of twisting sands and arcane magics.
[saving you…] replied Chromie with sadness in her eyes
Current time
As Lanthios looked upon the eye of a dragon covered in yellow, he recognized the voice! For how could a wow nerd like him ever mistake the voice of Chromie?
And as she flew past him to engage with the giant, behind her stood a portal! A portal that extended large and wide, that allowed scores of troops to come through!
Troops that were not of dragon kind like he would have suspected. Instead, the bulk of the troops were just adventures that came willingly. Trolls, orcs, Tauren, and others, all from the horde came riding on their mounts in full glory wearing splendid gear that confused Lanthios.
For he recognized some of their gear, and it was gear that shouldn't be in the time that he thought he was in. But then he remembered what the bronze drake specialized in…
{so, they came from another time to help us…} said Lanthios to himself as he stared at Layla's disbelieving expression
As Layla was about to say something, Lanthios quickly cut her off and grabbed her by the hand and began running at full speed towards the dark side of the city where the undead with a crown waited.
Through the explosion, death, and screams, Layla called out to Lanthios, when he abruptly interrupted:
{Ignore them!}
[but…] replied Layla
{I said ignore it! They're giving up their lives to give us this chance… please Ignore it!} replied Lanthios
Enduring the sight of many brave souls, being squashed like bugs, impaled by spikes, or trapped by skeleton hands, Layla did just that… she ignored it! Though it still pained her heart.
Sure, she was no stranger to death and hated Azrael for what he had done to them, but to witness countless people riding strange creatures she had only ever read about, die. It was hard even for her! She wished she could do something for them… if anything at all.
{sigh, if you really want to help them, then help them later in the future when we get out of this place.} said Lanthios
[how? Later they all might be…] replied Layla
{trust me… you will see them again, but you probably won't recognize them...} replied Lanthios and he began to notice the looks the troops were giving him. Like they wish to say something but know that they shouldn't. Thus, they only continued the fight without ever conversing a single word with the pair.
Azrael short POV
As the pair were about to step foot in the dark half of the room with half the troops splintering off to help them, Azrael watched from his monitors in shock, as he crushed a skull camera by his seat!
[Bull shit! By death! Why are the bronze drakes crushing my fun? I don't remember inviting them! Are these two so important that you'll really send an army to my door? Nozdormu! As per agreement, I have kept my hands off your kind corpses, but with this! YOU HAVE NOW NULLED IT!
I will take from you everything! Starting with that one!] yelled Azrael and his eyes bled from the scene of Chromie fighting the giant he had spent years making.
But while he was venting out his frustrations, he felt a death shiver down his spine, one he hadn't felt in a long time… one that could only have come from a being whose rule over death was far greater than his!
Lanthios POV
The second their foot touched that dark sliver of sand; the death king finally made his move! For he ignored all but the pair, he cared not for the howling of the orcs, or the thunder steps of the Tauren, nor did he care for the voodoo magics of the trolls.
He solely focuses his attention on the pair like he was ordered to do so from the very beginning! With sword in hand and an army of dead, he scattered his flowers!
As the flowers floated in the wind, within the metropolis of the dead, where destroyed buildings lay wasted and broken, and giant royal poinciana trees drooped down their bell flowers. A song played in the breeze as the crown flowers floated past them, causing a beautiful chime of bells to ring out!
As a crowned flower flew past an orc in mid-combat, the undead foe in front of him changed color! From its pristine white to a deep red that would put the color of blood to shame! While its eyes were once as empty as the abyss, now rested purple like those of night elves!
With renewed strength, all the dead warriors that were weak and mindless now fought with the ferocity of a living orc! While those undead that heard the chiming of the bells, now channeled their spells faster, while their bone turned a deep black to hide in the shadows of the room!
Amidst in the center of all the chaos stood the pair staring right at the dead king! With twitching the king slowly raised its head to stare back! With pitch darkness for eyes and a glowing purple orb in the center, disturbed but determined Lanthios said:
{I'll hold him… just attack where you can!}
With that said, Lanthios boldly charged forward, with both weapons shining in their brilliance with elemental power! But the moment he got close was when the king revealed its true nature! Gone was the darkness that hid away its violet eyes!
For suddenly the king yelled with a dislocated jaw and began contorting his body and attacking, on all fours like a spider! It knew its bones were sharp, while its armor was light, while its foe was fleshly and weak!
As Lanthios blocked his foe's first swing, the creature's weight was heavier than he expected, while the king's head reached in between the weapon to screech in his face! But while not being intimidated in the slightest, Lanthios snarled while pushing the dead king back.
With that moment of separation, beautiful butterflies flew in between the floating flowers to burn the king! Though she sent dozens of flaming bugs, the flowers around the king acted as a shield and burned away with most of her flames.
However, the flames that did go through did nothing more than change the color of the king flowers! For the ones that burned away, left spaces for new flowers to replace them! But they didn't just replace them!
For they feed on the ample mana from the flames that covered his bones and change to an orange hue! And as they blossomed and bloomed and shattered, all who came in contact with those petals, burned in a frighting pace!
As Tauren's ran covered in flames, while feeling their flesh burning away, Lanthios ignored their cries and their charging voices, as he struck down his pair of glaives against his opponent's sword!
A beautiful yet enticing sword made of unknown material but looked like it was forged in the heart of a blazing meteor! It glowed in a wonderful mirror purple with slight reddish pink sprinkled around its aura, a magnificent blade for any king to weld!
As the air became filled with black shoots that devoured the trees, and the old, decrypted buildings, while the fighting space shrank continuedly by the second, for ally and foe alike burned just as much as the field did!
The only saving grace is that Lanthios had noticed that with each encounter with the crowned king, they got just a little bit close to the exit! A big gateway filled with burning grass and broken skulls! However, just as he realized it, so did the crown king in front of him!
And while the king's jaw chattered like he was laughing, Lanthios made his move! While asking for the light that dwells within him, and while being a brother to the elements, Lanthios lunged his glaives with his full force, even allowing his instincts to take over!
As his glaive fell upon the crowned king, the king laughed for real, as his sword glowed a sharp purple like never before!
And with it, came a wave of purple death! But through the wave, Lanthios came undaunted through a burning flaming shield that broke into shards of glass, while purple flames burned at his fur! All while the paladins behind him were split in two!
As Layla had used them as her meat shield, for it was not her fault that their so-called 'divine shield' didn't save them! She was lucky enough that her meat shield lasted long enough for her, to incase herself in ice!
But now, did the cut on Lanthio's chest hurt? Yes! Could he feel the dark mana encroaching inside him? Yes! But what did that matter? For pain is inevitable, but suffering is a choice!
And the suffering that came with pain, was long since drained out of him! For even when his muscle contracted for a swing with all his might, and the blood erupted from his wound, he felt nothing!
And though the light glowed in his eyes, and the elements empowering his weapons combined with it, finally made contact with the crown king's chest, an explosion of dark mana fled his wound!
The king screamed in shock! As he grabbed hold of his chest, while the light entered through the cut, eroding the dark mana's ability to stay put!
After several attempts, the pair was finally able to hurt the king! And as Lanthios went in with the intent to kill, his instinct exploded in fear, as his fur suddenly stood on its ends like a scared cat!
Now knowing why, he felt scared, Lanthios quickly backed off, as a figure dressed as the reaper appeared behind the crown king! As the crown king saw the figure, he completely lost his mind in fear! It no longer cared about the dark mana leaving its body it only wished to escape the figure cloaked in pure death magic!
A sight that completely shook Lanthios! For in his mind, how can an undead know fear? And better yet if that can cause a being that shouldn't know fear, fear! Then just what is it?
As to answer his question, when the hooded figure grabbed hold of the crown king through the tip of his scythe, the blazing winds blew down his hood! And though it wore a mask, nothing could hide identity from Lanthios! For anyone who played the game before would easily recognize him!
{Bwonsamdi!} screamed Lanthios in his mind while thousands of other questions popped up all at the same time!