Tyrannus Reborn

Brynjalf the Mighty calmingly stroked the head of his massive snoutbeast, the beast could smell the incoming battle, and it was as restless as his warriors. Ready to gore with its mighty tusks, ready to crush the skulls of enemies to pulp between its massive jaws, and ready to trample those who stood in the way of his people’s freedom. Brynjalf could see his hated foes, their engraved armor gleaming dully in the clouded sunlight of the plains. A scowl crossed his bearded face, this would be a battle to be remembered, sung about throughout the ages. Tezuhiko, Brynjalf's warbrother, chuckled softly. “Brother, this battle will prove just what their false gods can do for them, our army will swallow them up, and we will maim them like the great bears of our homeland!” Brynjalf laughed loudly. “We will comfort their crying women with our men, our shield maidens will train their milk drinkers to be as strong as we are, to die with glory and honor!” He turned to address his warsons and daughters. “CHILDREN OF THE MOON!! HEED ME NOW!! MAY ALL OF YOU DIE STRONG AND WELL!! FOR EVERY ONE OF US THAT FALLS, LET A THOUSAND OF THEIR MEN FALL! LET US SHOW THESE SHOWY OUTSIDERS HOW REAL WARRIORS FIGHT! LET US SPLIT THEIR SKULLS AND SHATTER THEIR BONES WITH OUR MIGHT! WITH OUR STRENGTH!! THIS DAY WE SEND THEM TO THEIR PRECIOUS GODS, WE GIVE THEM WHAT THEY DESERVE!" He paused for effect, letting his words sink in, then thrust his fist into the air and shouted with all his might. "CRUSHING DEATH AT THE HANDS OF ILLUNA!!!” He drew his mighty bone sword from its sheath and high above his head, causing all eyes to fall upon the weapon, suddenly he thrust it into the air, as if stabbing the heavens, and his entire army threw their heads back and roared as loud as they could, some of them already beginning to show the signs of Illuna's blessed change.

 

General Rommanus soothingly stroked the mane of his large white stallion, he could hear the banners of his people’s kingdom snapping in the brisk wind, he would show those blaspheming savages what happened to those who mocked the gods. They would taste the cold biting steel of arrows, spears, shields, and swords. They would feel the crushing might of his army and learn their true place in this world, beneath the heel of god and man in Aenia. He nodded to Velkas, his personal guard and close friend. “Fine day for a battle isn't it?” Velkas grinned widely before responding. “Aye friend, the gods smile on us this day! All except the Crimson King, he scowls enviously at the battle that is to come.” Rommanus turned his steed around to face his army. “Soldiers! Brothers in arms! Today we fight, not only for the glory of battle, but for the safety of our families. Our daughters, our mothers and sons, we fight for the future! We fight to destroy all those who oppose the rule of the gods! You have seen the signs of the oracle for yourselves! You know that this battle will end in our glorious honor! Now....WHO'S READY TO CLEAVE BARBARIAN SKULL? WHO'S READY TO BEAT THESE SAVAGES BACK TO THE ICY DEPTHS THEY SLUNK FROM? ARE WE NOT FAVORED BY THE GODS? ARE WE NOT AENIANS? WHO IS READY TO LIVE AND DIE FOR OUR GLORIOUS GODQUEEN DEMASSI? WHO IS READY TO SEND THESE MONSTROUS ABOMINATIONS BACK TO THE PITS?” His soldiers proudly agreed, yelling their allegiance as they bashed their weapons against their shields. Suddenly a fevered roaring could be heard throughout the plains, spooking the horses. Rommanus slammed his sword against his shield, his soldiers doing the same as they chanted in unison and made their way forward. “HOO HAA!! HOOHAA!! HOO HAA!!”

 

Brynjalf roared madly and slashed his great bone sword down through the air, then charged forward on his snoutbeast, his warriors roared and snarled wildly as they followed. Some followed on horses, others on great wildcats, and some on feet or paws.

 

The two armies met in the middle of the plains in an uproarious bloody clash of armor and fur. Teeth and claws met flesh, steel met hide and soon the dry sandy ground became a mess of filthy mire, thick with life blood and viscera. Big purple-black ravens swirled in the air as they battle raged on, soon joined by vultures and masses of flies. Thirteen days and thirteen nights passed and still the battle raged on, the last remnants of the wars too blood crazed to stop, attacking anything in sight and feeding on the deceased flesh.  Deep under a pile of the deceased Tyrannus opened his eyes and immediately retched, then choked on his own sickness. The last he remembered, he had dispatched a man beast, then a white horse had galloped past and a bronze and silver blade had sliced clean through the shoulder of his right arm, severing it neatly. He had barely registered the pain when suddenly a barbarian slashed his chest open and an Aenian boot slammed into his face, and everything went black. His entire body hurt, and he could barely breathe due to the many corpses piled on top and around him, the little snatches of air he could get between bloodied breaths were sour and twisted. He lost count of how long he lay there, unable to move, the disgusting juices of the dead seeping into his mouth, mind, and body, he could not tell if it was days, hours, or years. The worst part was the silence, he began to enjoy the caw of the ravens, the maggots squirming themselves through rotted flesh, the sound of hyenas and vultures ripping fetid meat from bone, the steady buzz from the masses of flies. And there was something else, a whispering he couldn't quite hear, the harder he listened, the softer it got. Like an itch one can never scratch, it drove him mad, he was sure that it knew something, the scavengers heard it too, the ravens, the vultures, the insects, they were all a part of its voice. Tyrannus listened with bated breath, THERE! There it was, he could hear it! He could finally hear it! If he could've laughed he would've, it made him smile. Like the sweetest song of death, a mournful melody from the soul, it was the sweetest pain he had ever felt, and he gave himself over to it. Tyrannus lost track of how long he had been listening to the song, but he knew as soon as it ended. Then the silence was back, but this time something felt different...he realized that the steady pressure and pain he had become accustomed to was no longer there. No longer did he draw breath, and yet he still lived, he smiled, then began to squirm, shifting the fetid miry muck around him.

 

A lost traveler stepped gingerly through the demented plains, she had no idea how she had gotten here...a wrong turn somewhere. She stopped to pull a map from her bag, when suddenly the ground began to softly split a couple feet away. She quickly drew her sword as it emerged, then gasped at the horrendous creature. What was once a man, a soldier by the look of it, stood, thick pitch and maggots dripping from it to reveal its deep crimson skin, a wet black gash scored its chest through armor, and a useless half stump hung from its right side. Wild hair fell down its back as it threw its head back and cackled, rotted bile and fluids running from its mouth as the ground around it began to shake. Bits of flesh, entire animal skeletons, and shadow erupted from the ground around its feet, coalescing around its body and covering it in liquid ebony. A fearsome roar sounded as the ebony exploded, the man thing stood there, its skin darker than the blackest night, the tail, teeth, claws and horns of a beast. It tore its armor off as if it was naught but paper, then focused its wide yellow eyes on her, a demonic grin split its face. Tyrannus dressed in the simple leather armor the female had. He'd had to make some adjustments for his new body. He took a look around the plains, the female let out agonized choking sobs behind him as she clawed at her pitch black eyes. She would soon learn that there is no way to run, all he did was bring out the darkness inside of her, soon it would consume her and she would spread the word of his new god. The plains had changed so much they resembled more of a graveyard now, the blood had poisoned the ground, warped the surrounding life, and various weapons stuck out of the ground at random intervals. The ground was lush with long black grass, gnarled twisted trees grew sparingly, strange white translucent fruits hung from them, Tyrannus snapped his head up as a flock of ravens the size of wolves passed overhead. Strange chortling yips and giggles caught his pointed ears, directing his attention to a group of very large cackling hyenas with strangely hand shaped paws and shoulders. Their blue-black tongues lashed from their slavering mouths, and burning pits of fire sat where their eyes should have been as they hunched around a fresh kill. Tyrannus inhaled the air deeply, then let it out with a contented sigh, this place felt perfect. He would make a home here, raise an army to serve him, and then spread the world of his god. Hot pitch bubbled up from the ground beneath one of the trees, swelling into a huge bubble. Tyrannus reached out to touch it and it shattered into thousands of smoky fragments, leaving behind a beautiful ebony short sword and a beautiful black wood staff, it was made from the wood of the twisted tree, and felt as hard as iron. The sword's blade and hilt were made of a metal unknown to Tyrannus, the grip on the sword was made of the same dark twisted wood, the it looked as if someone had simply picked a sword as one picks a fruit and sharpened it until it could slice through light itself. The staff was studded with malachite and alexandrite, slightly pulsating quicksilver veins of quicksilver ran through it. Tyrannus’s eyes watered at the sight of such beauty as he fervently thanked his master, he would spread the word of his dark lord and any who opposed him would fall to the blade of his god. The faint sounds of a grand celebration in New Aenia reached the ears of Tyrannus, he knew EXACTLY where he would start his mission.