Wrath and a Heart Broken
Her cries of sorrow and rage seemed to know no end where she sat with the child in her arms. The pale face of the young boy tightly hold against her chest and the blood from the many wounds staining her dress. She did not care anymore, she did not yearn for nothing else, nothing but to have this child breathe again. But even through the dark cold of sadness she knew that it would not be possible. The one thing she ever cared about through all these years, the one thing she would admit to ever have loved. She caressed the long black hair of the small boy and raised her head to the heavens above, the cold wind grabbed hold of her hair and for a moment all that had been fair and beautiful about her was gone. Some would say that death finds death and if so then this was to be the first step on the last path she'd ever walk. She heard footsteps coming towards her "Let them claim me" she thought and pulled the dead child as close to her as she could.
"M'lady! M'lady we must hurry, they are coming." the guard placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to get her to stand. She shook her head and shrugged his hand off her.
"No! I will not leave my son again!" she turned her head towards the guard and her cold blue eyes were dark as the blackest nights. The guard hesitated, took a few steps back before he bowed his head.
"What is your orders then, my queen?"
As she was about to answer the heavy doors to the courtyard cracked open and arrows flew past her her. The guard turned and shouted to the others around them to defend their queen. The sound of clashing steel blended with her cries and when the last of her warriors had been slain and the silence filled the air she whispered to her dead child "So be it..."
She forced herself to stand up, raising the child in her arms. The soldiers who had stormed this last refuge formed ranks and prepared to advance, spears lowered and arrows aimed towards her. They did not dare to act, at least not for the moment but it was all the time she needed. Whispering in the dark tongue of her fathers a black mist appeared around her and begun to circle around her body. Its long tendrils reaching out with what seemed to be with clawed hands towards her enemies. Her words went from a whisper to a resounding chant and the mist grew, the heavens above begun to rumble and as she turned towards the men and women threatening her they could see her eyes. This was no longer a woman with a dark plots and schemes, no longer a woman who would have satisfied in causing fear. No, before them now stood a woman who had lost everything and had nothing more to loose.
Her eyes seemed to burn with the flames of hatred and as she spoke the last word with a whisper the black mist suddenly expanded with a deafening roar and the force of the shockwave sent the soldiers crashing to ground. She begun to walk towards the broken gate, the ground beneath her cracking and rumbling for every step. Those who had managed to get to their feet now came running towards her with sword and spear held ready to cut her down. The first one was taken by the mist and his throat where torn to shreds by the clawed hands within it. She did not seem to care, resolute she continued towards the gate, the screams of panic and death from within the mist around her did not fill her with the taste of lust as it once had done. A few more steps and she'd leave this place for good. But suddenly a familiar shape appeared before her, in armor as bright as the stars and with the sword that once had tasted her flesh. The two looked at each other and as she lowered her dead child and lay him on the ground before her the man shouted his challenge and leaped towards her.
The blade would have cut her in two had she not graciously turned to the side and time seemed to slow down to a halt as she managed to grasp hold of the mans face. Burrowing her nails deep into his skin the man shouted in pain and he tried to push away with all his strength. But for this moment she stood as solid as the mountains around them. The black mist lending its strength to her one last time she forced the man down on his knees. A sudden sharp pain ran through her body and she felt the cold of steel within her, she did not falter and as she locked eyes with the man she whispered:
"After all this time, upholding the true honor of valor. You seek me out and slay my son...our son." her words were cold as ice and filled with hate.
The man laughed and said with a spiteful voice: "The child is no son of mine, it is a beast a spawn of darkness that finally has been vanquished." He begun to cough and as he withdrew the blade from her body she leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear:
"Know this before you die, that all you ever have accomplished were nothing. All those slain, you did not slay with a pure heart, it has been corrupted ever since the night we shared. You have killed in MY name for a long time..."
The man suddenly dropped his sword as if his strength had failed him, his skin and face beginning to age and his black hair turning grey.
"No...this cannot be, it cannot end this way" he finally managed to push her away but as he stood up he once again fell to his knees. In panic he took of his gloves and threw them to the ground, looking at his hands ageing before him he reached for his blade but he was now to weak to raise it.
"No...you are defeated!..." he shouted
She begun to laugh as she knelt beside her son and raised him once again in her arms, with staggering steps she walked past the man who by now looked as if age was to claim his life.
"My dear Ventris...you never have and you will not ever defeat me, die with the knowledge that all you have done has been done in vain"
She walked through the broken gates and the black mist surrounded the aging man, tearing at his face and throat. He managed to stand but as he turned around after her she spoke a final word of power and the mist consumed the man and as he fell to the ground all that remained were ash and armor. The ground shook and heaved beneath her feet and as she slowly made her way down the road the great walls of the fortress begun to crack and with a last deafening rumble they crumbled and crushed the remaining enemies within.
"I know now what I must do...and for all it is worth my child...I'm sorry"
And with those words she slowly made her way towards the horizon, weak and bleeding she knew she would not get far but she ha to try.
One last time.
