Through Darkest Knight

[Gredar]

Marten grinned, wincing as he did so. "I'm not that kind of guy," he said, as he pulled on his pants and slipped his wings through the holes in his tunic.

He closed his eyes and thought about the blood. "Atrio wanted more than just blood magic, Constance. He's using a formula I devised several years ago. But perhaps I should go back to the start." He closed his eyes, rubbing at his temples in a vain attempt to clear out the throbbing migrane. He leaned his head back and began.

"Shortly after I departed company with our last group, you may recall them Mirado, I decided to settle down. I bought a few acres of land in some sparsely populated area and started a farm, growing corn and wheat. It was relaxing, and in my spare time I began some alchemical research into the roots of life. What I discovered was amazing."

"Within every living thing there is a spark of pure magic, purer even than the holiest priest, purer than a newborn infant. I managed, after three months of extreme experiments, to extract a minute portion of it. My initial success came from dragons blood. Later experiments proved that magical creatures, such as dragons, werewolves, and vampires carried a higher concentration than regular beings. Wizards had higher concentrations than normal people, who had higher concentrations than beasts. By the time I met Atrio I was able to successfully extract small amounts from my own blood, as well as larger portions from dragons blood and even from a few phoenix feathers I had."

"There was a side effect, though. After Atrio joined me in my research, as an Acolyte sent by the Academy for my research, I discovered that the liquid was addictive. Highly addictive. One dose would give you the power to destroy Dracquis completely, Mirado, but at a fatal cost. You would be cursed, you would have to take some of the mixture at each full moon, and what's worse it would require a higher dosage to stay alive every month. I was able to overcome the addiction only through the help of extremely skilled healers, and I doubt anything but luck saved me. Atrio wasn't so lucky. He was seduced by the power, and it fed into his own predilection as a necromancer."

I found him, one night, after he had taken a very high dose. He had managed a feet much like Dracquis, he had killed the whole village and begun his own empire, of sorts. He believed himself to be invincible, but he lacked the discipline to match me at equal strength. I couldn't kill him, but I destroyed my lab and research, and without it he could only extract from magical beings. My guess is he infected himself with vampirism, or else found a vampire to do it for him, to slow the decay. He's still weakening though, and those few drops he got from Constance will barely last him ten days. He'll be back, unless he wants to search for another vampire and risk death."  

[Masamune 5.0]

Mirado listened closely to everything Marten said. Once he had finished Mirado said, "I'm already cursed, so I'm not too thrilled to add another one. Besides, if this pure magic is as potent as you say, it would probably end up killing me since I read Dracquis's tome."  

[Demonix13]

Alpheus sat with his gleaming eyes shut, concentrating hard on Marten's words.
"How amazing. To think, we all have such power... Simply astounding."
Alpheus stood up and stretched his cramped arms.
"So, how do we fix this?"  

[Gredar]

Marten held perfectly still, trying not to move his head. "We don't. I doubt even a high warlock could take Atrio right now. He will return within the next few days. We have to protect Constance at all costs and hope he doesn't find another vampire to consume. Given enough time the addiction will consume him, or else he will become weak enough for us to take down."  

[Masamune 5.0]

"Great... now we have three huge problems..." Mirado sighed as he stretched out his arms. He cracked his knuckles as he turned back to the others. "Well, I don't know about all of you, but I don't intend to stay here for long. I'm not going to stop tracking the Knights and Dracquis."  

[Gredar]

Marten opened his eyes and glanced at Mirado. "We stay here tonight. Once we've all recovered we strike south from here to Rexford to buy horses. You head out on your own you're liable to get yourself killed, and you'll go slower without my help. I can get more out of a horse without hurting him than most could if they killed it." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back trying to hold off the pain.  

[demonofwhite]

Constance handed some coffee to Marten. "You hardly haved to worry about me..." She muttered, but listened intently to the rest, not inturupting .  

[Masamune 5.0]

"I guess that helps fix two of our problems. But should Atrio and his accomplice return, we should stick together. We all split up when fighting the zombies and then he was able to focus on just one of us." Mirado paused a moment. "How's that sound?"  

[Zerith]

Dracquis the Dark One slipped out of the village, its inhabitants now all dead. Buildings creaked and moaned as Dracquis's shadows slithered away. Several collapsed, having been so decayed by the darkness and without the shadows keeping them in place. And then the laugh rang throughout the village.  

[Gredar]

Marten nodded, then sipped slowly at the coffee. "Agreed. So Mirado, you going to tell us who it is we're trying to protect, or is it going to be some kind of security blind date?"  

[Masamune 5.0]

"Alright." Mirado conceded. "Dracquis will definitely hunt her down in time. And I'm not entirely sure if the Knights are after her, but judging by their direction they'll run into her anyway. This person is my sister. Years ago, when our parents were killed, I swore an oath to protect her no matter what. That oath lasts to this day."

Mirado paused and stared at the ground. He muttered, as if talking to himself, "It was so stupid of me to go out traveling... I thought she'd be safe for a while with him... but then the Knights showed up... and now Dracquis..."  

[Demonix13]

"Okay, so we know who we're trying to find. But who's with her. You keep mentioning a 'him'. Who exactly is he, and will we have to fight him to get to your sister?"  

[Masamune 5.0]

"His name's Zach Aroyan. He's a couple years younger than me, the same as my sister. Zach was the one who put the final blow to Dracquis, though I wasn't exactly conscious for it..." Mirado glanced off to the side. After a brief pause he looked back up. "In any case, the two of them are no match for the Knights of Exemplar and Dracquis the Dark One, atleast alone. What makes it worse is that they probably don't know about them coming their way. So that's why I want to hurry and atleast warn them."  

[Gredar]

Marten took another sip of coffee. Gathering a handful of dirt and twigs, he muttered "Be my voice, and let it be carried to the ends of the earth." The reagents began to swirl above his hand, caught in a vortex of wind as they hovered in the smoky air near the fire. "Mirado, you mentioned earlier that they would try to destroy Dracquis but wouldn't be strong enough. Have you considered that that's exactly what you're trying to do now? If that thing is as strong as you say, I think we need their help." The vortex hardened into a orb, translucent with smoke and dust billowing inside. Marten tossed it across the fire towards Mirado. "If you speak into the globe, it will remember your voice and when the wind is released it will find it's recipient. Tell them to meet us somewhere safe."  

[Masamune 5.0]

"I said they wouldn't be strong enough, alone." Mirado caught the orb and listened to Marten's explanation. This would almost completely solve the problem. He only hoped that the two were still there. Mirado concentrated on the globe in his hand. He whispered into it, "Zach, this is Mirado. Listen, there's trouble heading your way. The cursed Knights of Exemplar are rampaging east, right towards you. And I don't know how, but Dracquis got resurrected. I can't explain it right now, but you and Ali meet me at the 'old place'. Ok? Don't go after them on your own, got it?"

Mirado finished speaking and released the ball into the air. It evaporated into the wind and his words were carried off into the distance. This being done, Mirado turned back to the others.