3.1.7.8. The Morning Light - Part 2

Transport Airship in the game Lineage 2 - Source: brownfinger.deviantart.com

Meanwhile, the airship Aurora has taken off and flies east towards Parthenia. The surviving hunters, Vadis and Adair’s champions and elf guides are having a meeting in the strategy room near the deck. The host, Eidos conducts this meeting.

            ‘First of all, let us pray for our comrades who gave their lives for the success of this mission. Too many good men have fallen to foil Vordac’s evil plan. And for that, we’ll remember them. Remember Orlevant. Remember the noble heroes. May Vadis secure their way into heaven to rest by his side.’

            All the hunters and champions who are present there bow their heads, standing and praying for the departed souls.

            ‘You may now take your seats,’ says Eidos. And all champions and guides take their seats. The hunters are still standing as there are only a few chairs in that room. 

            ‘As you all know by now, our mission in the Enia’s Sanctum has ended in a success. We have eliminated Vordac’s heir, who happened to be the former owner of this airship. But in spite of that, we have come into this dilemmatic problem. The Deathblade Kraal’shazar, the dark weapon with Vordac’s soul sealed inside it, is here with us now. Lord Adler von Bachmann has claimed it.’

            The impatient Sheena Mekh’ta, one of Adair’s champions, suddenly springs up and protests in a loud voice, ‘How dare he claim Adair’s sword!? This is a mockery, blasphemy!’

            Kyflynn, however, responds to this in his usual, controversial way. ‘Hey, hey, calm down, miss. Just think, what drove Lord Adler to claim this sword in the first place? ‘Twas greed, right? Plus he had to sacrifice his own sword, so the Deathblade is very suitable to cover up the loss plus the profit, right?’

            ‘Watch your mouth, elf,’ says Adler behind his gritted teeth.

            ‘So, the point is, now the Deathblade is with us,’ Eidos continues. ‘And we are not pretty sure whether Vordac’s spirit has been unsealed, exterminated, transferred anywhere, or is still in the sword – and no one has actually unsealed it?’

            ‘You mean Lord Paliades was not Vordac’s heir?’ says Alexis.

           
‘No, it’s not that. But by the way my logic works as a scientist, and as history stated, Vordac’s spirit cannot be exterminated that easily. Deathblade is the proof of that. Remember, he was the hellspawn, Adair’s offspring who rebelled against his own father, so he was finally defeated and banished from hell, and naturally he can’t go to heaven. He is a ghost, trapped here in Eternia between heaven and hell. He incarnated when he first came, gathered dark minions from this world and built the Underworld.

            The Underworld has worked in the shadows until they were all set, and invaded Eternia with the entire Aurelia Continent as their first target. But the people in Aurelia fought back, united and led by Sage the Fireheart, the first emperor of Arcadia, your great-great grandfather (indicating Alexis. Alexis nods in response). Vordac was killed and vanquished at last, his body was destroyed but his soul was intact. Vordac’s soul entered Deathblade after he killed Gairon, Adair’s agent who delivered the killing blow on him with that very sword. No one knew the true nature of Vordac’s spirit at that time.

            Mandrach Urganon secretly claimed Deathblade and gave it to his bastard son, Mildred, the Regent of Borgia. Mildred became Vordac’s host and with his father he invaded Arcadia, sending Sage and the empress to exile. Many years later Prince Antoine led the second crusade to free and reclaim Arcadia. He killed Mildred; Vordac’s spirit went back into the sword and was sealed inside by Azrael, the Archmage of Light. Azrael, Theripides and Carolyn then sealed Deathblade in Enia’s Sanctum and many, many years later here it is, the cursed sword, in the hands of another Borgian. Now that you know the historical part, we need to find out what to do next with this sword.’

            ‘I say we destroy the sword now,’ says Dar’gum.

            ‘But if Vordac’s spirit is still inside it, it will go to another medium or host.’

            Hernan adds, ‘Remember, Lord Adler is holding the sword for quite some time now, and he didn’t mutate or became crazy as it did to Lord Paliades. So our best bet is Lord Paliades DID unsealed Vordac’s spirit, it went into him and when Paliades was killed, it went back into the sword and became dormant because its dark energy was almost entirely spent on Paliades. It will accumulate dark energy again and find a new heir, a new host. But it’s also possible that it DID chose its new host but lies in there, weak and dormant, waiting for another time to rise again.’

            ‘So, what do you suggest we do now?’ Eidos asks.

            ‘My suggestion is we must keep our eyes open and monitor our activities at all times, especially towards the new owner of Kraal’shazar. I now volunteer to accompany Lord Adler so I can be the first to act whenever Vordac does anything or makes a change in him. I’ll write to King Jaime and I’m sure he will give me permission for the best interest of my country.’

            ‘In that case,’ Eidos nods and responds. ‘As I am a free party now, I also volunteer to keep an eye on Lord Adler and keep him in this airship for the time being.’

            ‘Sir Eidos, you mean I’m a prisoner in your ship now?’ Adler asks Eidos angrily.

            ‘No, sir. You can use this airship and go anywhere you like. I and Aurora are at your disposal. You see, sir, the thing is I need a new financial backer now my old master is gone. And I’m sure you’ll be interested, after seeing how much advantage this airship can bring you in achieving your goals.’

            ‘Very well, then. I can see your point. For a start, I’ll become a hunter with Eidos and Hernan as my partners. But remember, Eidos, from now on you and Aurora belong to me, and you must swear your allegiance to me and me only, not to Borgia, not to the king. Do you agree with that?’

            ‘I agree, milord,’ says Eidos. ‘I’ll swear allegiance to you after this meeting is over.’

            ‘And you, Don Hernan,’ says Adler. ‘You must also swear that our partnership is free from political means. Don’t you ever turn as a spy against Borgia. If you do, I’ll cut your head off.’

            ‘It’s as easily said as done, Lord Adler. Don’t worry about that,’ says Hernan.

            ‘All agree then?’ says Eidos. ‘Any more suggestions?’

            No one answers. Sheena murmurs, ‘Agreed, for now.’ And Eidos takes the others’ silence as an unspoken agreement.

            ‘Very well, then. We will now go to my workshop in Parthenia to take whatever we need for preparations of our new base in Viscount Adler’s estate, and the rest of you may debark along the way. May Vadis protect us from Vordac’s evil plans.’

            The airship Aurora doesn’t change its course, it cruises on towards Parthenia.

==oOo==

            Back to Robert and his party, we sure want to know whether they survived the monsters’ attack, don’t we? Well, as you may well expect, they did. Now they are resting with Genilda, camping in a forest nearby. They are exchanging experiences and conferring about their plans for the future.

            ‘There’s something that’s bugging my mind,’ says Robert. ‘It’s about you, Chris. How come you didn’t join us to the end of our mission, disappeared just like that until we found you fighting at Genilda’s side?’

            Christopher answers him shyly, ‘Well, actually, er… eh, I was chickened out. I was frustrated because I was lost in the wind tunnels and almost sucked and minced in the fan. So I left my armor behind and tried different tunnels, but I eventually ended up in the rune room where I started. Then I saw Genilda there, she told me the right route but I have lost my guts and I chose to accompany her and escorted her to the exit.

            She was going to go to Bresconnor at first, but when she found out that I am part of Carolyn’s party, she offered to stay with me on the safer area outside the sanctum until you guys come out or at least I know my cousin’s whereabouts and I said yes.

Then when we were having our dinner by the campfire, a horde of monsters came from around the sanctum, and naturally, they attacked us. We fought all night long and all morning until you came for us. That’s our story. Now something’s bugging my mind too. How’s the mission? Did you guys kill the heir? Is the Deathblade destroyed? Tell me, please!’

            After Iris finds out that Genilda is a widow of her forties, she concludes that no way Chris would fall in love with a plain, fat lady who is much older than himself. So Iris’ jealousy vanishes in an instant, and she gladly tells Chris and Genilda in detail about what happened after they passed the wind tunnels, went through the stages of traps and mortal peril, defeated each and every guardian and finally defeated the heir, blow by blow, step by step. When Iris comes to the point that Adler claimed the Deathblade and uses it for his own, Chris cuts in, protesting.

            ‘What? How can you let him claim that sword? Vordac’s spirit has departed from there, right? So that sword is no great harm anymore, and anyone can claim it. Why didn’t you take it, heh? Robert, Iris?’

            ‘Don’t you get it, Chris?’ says Carolyn. ‘Did you forget what you’ve learned from our tutors about the history of our land?’

            ‘Damn, of course I forgot, cousin! I’m a man of action, not literature!’

            ‘Huh, we’ll talk about that later. The thing is, we don’t want the sword, and we didn’t find any treasure in there either.’

            ‘But, if I may ask,’ says Andreas. ‘How come Carolyn summoned Aegis the Thunderbird when we fought Chimera? I don’t remember telling her how to summon it! It’s a very rare gift among Valanisian mages!’

            Carolyn answers, ‘Well, let’s say that Aegis chose me. When the sun miniature shattered in pieces, Agustina found a strange orb falling from the inside of the sun. The orb emitted sparks but she felt nothing, no reaction at all when she touched that orb. So she came to me and handed me the orb, saying nothing at all.

And when I stared at the orb, it dissolved and turned into a shining, sparkling white bird. The bird then flies into my mouth. I was electrocuted but I was okay afterwards. Tina told me that it also happened in her when Jokulion chose her. So I tried to summon Aegis at that crucial time. I used a similar spell like Tina’s and Iris’. The first attempt was staggering but Aegis came out okay. The rest you already know.’

            ‘You are so lucky,’ says Iris. ‘May I borrow your necklace sometime, Carol? I can use a bit of good luck too, you know.’

            ‘Hey, make it yourself! You gave this thing to me, right?’

            ‘Oh yeah? The materials for this necklace is rare, you know, and it took a long time and many elves to find the right stuff. Don’t ever…’

            The two girls are fighting again, Iris’ voices is unclear anymore, drowned in that loud commotion. Chris also cuts in, trying to protest about something, but is now involved in some sort of a pillow fight, but the three of them use bare hands or anything they can find to hit each other. Andreas waves his hand in front of his beard and comes to Robert, whistling.

            ‘What a party you have here, Robert. Teaching those kids manners will be another tough quest for you.’

            ‘Time will tell, father. Time will tell. As for now, I wonder where we shall go next. I’m thinking about a place where we haven’t gone before, where monsters and jobs are plenty and the bounties are good.’

            ‘Why don’t you come to my place, then?’ says Genilda. ‘In the city of Barc’vadon, in Bresconnor. Bresconnor borders with Gremion, the orcish kingdom. The orcs and goblins there tend to disturb the peace and safety in Bresconnor, so it’ll be an ideal place for you to prove your name, Orcbane. Come to my home for a cup of tea, and meet my pretty children.’

            ‘That’s a good idea,’ says Robert. ‘But one thing I’m telling you all, I don’t hunt orcs for vengeance anymore. My encounter with that warchief Dar’gum has taught me much. Vengeance will only make me blind and inhibit me to discover my true potential. I will train myself to be stronger, so I won’t be a disappointment again when I must set the score against Dar’gum again and fight Vordac, his heir, his minion, and all forces of darkness.’

            ‘Good for you, Robert,’ says Genilda.

            But as she says that, Chris’ Raven Shield flies and hits the back of Robert’s head. Robert is thrown to the front, his face hits the ground.

This is my chronicle, fruits of my memory.

Many have we passed, many more we will find.

I’m the witness of all this

This chronicle is my record and my proof.

In spite of what we have done,

Our adventures are just begun.

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