As Paradise Burns: Chapter 1

The stories of Baleian and Landon are told in a War that has been raging since the birth of man. Hell fights to bring back the dark energies to the Lands of Immorterra as Heaven and it's allies fight desperately to preserve the balance of the Universe.

The waves crashed upon the rocks like the hands of the Gods slowly creating the jagged rock cliffs, the smell of salt thick in the air. Remains of many unfortunate vessels lay at its base.  At the top of the cliffs was a thriving forest, its canopy was seamless and stretched for miles, blocking the ground from a bird’s eye view. The moon shone fully illuminating the sky for miles around; it seemed bright enough to be the day except for the bluish hue emanating from the moonlight. On the forest floor, the only thing one could hear were the distant crash of the waves, slapping and molding the cliffs. The forest was dark and seemed like an alien world compared to its neighboring lands. Beams of moonlight shone through keeping out some of the darkness, like an oasis. In the distance, the faint sound of a horses hooves chopping along a dirt path filled the air. The horse looked like a demon, six legs and its hair as black as the night. It had horns protruding from its head much like a Rams, and armored head to hoof in black war armor, bearing pentagrams and symbols of a dark origin. Flowers and plants died when the demon horse walked over them, quickly wilting to black. When the horse walked through one of the beams of light, it gleamed off the rider. The armor he wore was of a maddening and disheartening design, this armor embodied everything wicked in this Universe. The sleek edges on his joints were as sharp as razor blades. The cold metal burned a wicked black, which almost made ones heartache. A black mist constantly steamed off the armor, without interruption almost as if the air around it made it burn or sublimate. A rather large cloak adorned his shoulders, with tears and holes near the bottom from scraping along the ground.

The forest continued to stay silent with only the trotting horse, the waves and the clink of the riders armor to disrupt the silence. Pain, fear and suffering all seemed to come off the armor like an aura, the extreme malice and suffering that this Knight would bring was unknown but undeniably terrible. The rider continued on his pace as if he were invincible, his chest high and surely a stern look upon his face under his wicked helm. His face was hidden by the helm, for this is what made the warrior so terrifying. The helmet made from the skull of a once powerful demon, so terrifying of a demon that even those of a strong heart froze in fear while in its presence. Its skull stained black, its mouth was long, and wide, triple rowed with sharp fangs. The eyes of the Knight were menacing to say the least, dark blue eyes shone out of the mouth that seemed to peer into the depths of one’s soul.   

Out of nowhere, the roar of a horse beginning its gallop disrupted the peace of the night. It sounded like the horse was heading further and further away, as if it were fleeing. The Knight was not bothered because he could have already caught and gutted anything that popped out of the forest by now if he so wished. Instead, he continued onward steadily, it was none of his concern.

“He’s come! He’s come!”  The scout yelled in fear to the guards at the outpost by the forests edge, he did not stop to tell them anything more. The guards did not even see the Knight and their reaction was just like the scouts, absolute terror. The guards relayed the message by setting a couple signal fires to tell the town further ahead. Soldiers poured out into the streets like ants trying to defend their colony from attack, as soon as the fires were lit.

“Ready your weapons! Ready your shields!” The commander ordered, his voice booming over the battle cries of the soldiers.

Although he knew the force was there to take his head, the rider continued on his slow pace, he let them wait; he wanted them to long for battle and suffer because of it.  Once the rider was out of the forest, he had a clear view of the town. The shields and swords of the warriors formed a tight phalanx formation, a massive wall of metal, blades and human flesh.  Slowly the rider halted his steed and looked at his challenge as nothing more than a minor disturbance. The streets of the town had become nothing but a wall of soldiers, torches lit their path like fire flies. All of the soldiers proudly carrying symbols and screaming words of patriotism for their homeland, Sparta. Five of their best javelin throwers readied an attack, each one with three exceptionally well constructed javelins. The commander thrust his sword forward and yelled loudly as Spartans are well known for signaling the release of the volley. The loud battle cries of the Spartans easily drowned out the waves crashing upon the ocean. A small grin came upon the Knights’ face as he watched all of the javelins fly by and miss him completely. The Knight kicked his demon steed and began to charge at the wall of Spartans. The horse snorted a black mist from its nostrils and began a full gallop. Before he reached the town, another volley came, this time the Knight had to take out his sword and slice a javelin in half as if it were just a fly. His sword was unworldly; a large demonic eye was in between the blade and the handle. The eye was a dark blue that looked as if it were irritated from all the red in the whites of the eye. Azure flame spouted off the side of the eye making a hilt for the weapon. The eye never blinked, it just stared at the warriors enemies randomly. Reddish entrails grew from the base of the metal to the middle of the distorted and jagged edges of the blade. Bringing both of his hands together, he pulled the sword into two smaller identical swords. His steed charged into the front line and took out several Spartans, bucking and kicking to help his master fight off his foes. The rider did a nimble back flip off the back of his horse almost as if he weighed nothing at all.

Although the Spartans were the most powerful warriors in hand to hand combat they fell easily to the Knights’ skills. The Agoge was not tough enough to teach their youth the proper skills to beat a foe like this. Almost as if he were dancing, the style the Knight used was strange and unfathomable to counter. He somehow was fast enough to counter the swarm of blades he had jumped into without hesitation. His strikes were relentless, in the eyes of these soldiers he surely was a demon. Human limbs and organs littered the blood soaked ground, the Knight made it look as if he was the butcher preparing a feast for cannibals. The Knight knew many techniques to kill a man, each more gruesome and barbaric than its last. Although his techniques made you question the gods, they were effective. Thrusting forth his right sword, the Knight pierced through one man’s neck and into another man’s face behind him. Blood fell like rain, as Spartans fell like flies. The Spartan force was dwindling as the Knight was still warming up.

“Stop!” The most seasoned Spartan in the small army yelled loudly over the carnage. His height and width were amazing, he was seven foot tall had broad shoulders and was all muscle.  “Let me fight him. Ares has chosen me to defeat this demon!”

The Knight pulled his sword out of a man’s gut before even giving the soldier a first glance. The soldier tightened his grip on his shield before he readied his spear. The Knight knew that this man was no challenge, though he certainly admired his lust for a hard battle. The Knight combined his sword and placed it back into its sheath. Seeing this as an insult to his honor and heritage, the soldier charged at the Knight screaming loudly in the name of his homeland that feared only defeat. On the tip of the armors fingers were small claws that made it easy for the bearer to scale walls, almost like a cats claws. Unsheathing his claws, the Knight disappeared and reappeared behind the soldier, disappearing from sight completely. The Knight came down with his left claw on the soldier’s shield, his claws ripped easily through the thin copper shield. With his other hand, the Knight grabbed the shield and ripped it from the soldier, his left arm stayed strapped into the shield, as the knight threw it aside. Thrusting his right fingertips into the soldier’s chest, and piercing his armor, the Knight lifted the man into the air. It was strange to see a seven foot tall giant be lifted by a six foot cross country runner, but hard to take for the Spartans at the same time. He lifted him above his head as if he were a paperweight.

“My brothers will destroy you!” The soldier managed to yell out before coughing up a puddle of blood, his right hand clutching the hand of the Knight. Blood from his severed arm ran down the left side of the soldier dripping into a large puddle around him and the Knight. The Knight gripped harder on the man’s chest and twisted his hand slightly; his screams of anguish filled the town, as his brothers seemed too afraid to try to stop him.

“Your brothers will suffer the same fate as you if you all continue to challenge death to a duel.” The Knight spoke loudly to the morally broken army. His voice echoed in itself as the six souls within the armor spoke at once as one. His voice sent shivers down the spines of everyone who could hear him.

“Let this be your warning!” Yelled the knight to the greatly demoralized army. The Knight put his fingers into the soldiers’ mouth and gripped it tight. The soldier screamed and struggled, biting the Knights hand violently trying to stop him. As if the Knight were trying to pull down a stuck lever, he ripped off the soldiers jaw with one swift and powerful motion. Bloody gargles of chaos erupted loudly out of the soldiers’ new mouth. As if what he had just done was nothing at all, the Knight dropped the soldier into the puddle of his blood, where he convulsed violently until he died. Kicking and screaming as if something was scratching the inside of his head, the warrior was drenched, painted in his own blood before it was all over.  

The sounds that the soldier made silenced the army and struck deep even to the hardest and toughest of Spartans. The Knight managed to do what no army could do, bring the Spartans to such a cowardice state, no monster of war with over one thousand swords could do what he had just done himself. The power and bloodlust that he felt overwhelmed his being, at this moment he could kill anyone that came near him, child or friend it did not matter. His life was to the continuous bloodshed of humanity, and he did not mind.

The army fell silent as they saw their best warrior slaughtered with such ease. All that could be heard was the Knight walking around the soldier his boots thudding off the stone ground, sending rings through the puddle of blood.

Holding out the soldiers jaw in his left hand the Knight began to speak again. “I warn you all now leave and I will spare your lives. Don’t let this same mans foolishness bring your death as well.”  Warned the Knight as his voices echoed through the hearts of every man.

Not one soldier said a word their silence said everything. Spartans were an arrogant bunch however and even in this moment, they chose to fight. One soldier stepped forward; he was afraid but still stood tall.

“A-Ares will give us the strength to strike you down!”  Rallied the soldier as he raised his spear in the air in a pure Herculean style.

“Fools, I have met Ares! His father sent me back to Earth to kill all of you! And I have been holding back!”

The long black cloak that the Knight wore began to flap as if a large wind gust was coming from under him. It seemed to get darker around him as well as the aura that surrounded the Knight began to concentrate more and more around his body. Soon his armor began to burn with blue fire as if he were covered in gasoline. The mist was now more like steam as it shot out in all directions and took some Spartans down from its heat. The steam became blue flames that shot off like a shock wave around the Knight. The town looked as if a volcano had spouted up in the middle of the streets, all one could see from miles away was the azure flames shooting in every direction. The wave of fire was like a knife it cut every soldier and building in its path and set it aflame. Some of the soldiers tried to find their legs before combusting into fire. The town burned a blue flame that lit up the sky and shone like an alien lighthouse off the cliffs. Smoke plumed continuously into the sky similar to dunking a burning piece of metal into water. The color of the fire was not the only odd thing about it, but it burned much faster and hotter than regular flame. Within twenty minutes, the town was burned to the ground almost nothing remained; even the innocent civilians of the town were either killed or homeless now.

The Knights’ horse walked over to him and stopped, waiting for its victorious master to ride off again. The Knight mounted up and began his journey again, just as if nothing had happened. The waves on the rocks could be heard very clearly now, once again becoming the whispering symphony of the night. The dirt on the path became finer and deeper like sand. The moon still shined brightly down from the cloudless sky, illuminating the night until the sun could take over. Ever since Alexander’s war on the Persians, the Knight had become famous. His skills unmatched and the mention of his presence would make armies turn around in their tracks. He had not always been like this however; the Knight once was a noble man full of the most wonderful intentions for his family, country and himself. The choices he made in a time of peril will haunt him more than he could ever fathom. Anger filled in the Knights head, everything made him react this way now. A sword guided by blind anger, although he would not admit it, the Knight was a slave to his emotions. The anger made him reminisce about his past, he was so deep in thought that he dropped his guard and let his horse take him to his destination.

The clouds howled and whistled at a fast tempo. Clouds as thick and gray as the walls to a mighty city, continued in the sky forever. A blizzard plagued the mountain and everything on it, offering nothing but the cold grasp of winter and a slow death. If the temperature was not enough to deter the most seasoned explorers then the wind certainly was, it bit down the very bone. Footprints lead up the deep treacherous snow to a lone man and his horse, only clinging to life from the warmth his breastplate and clothes brought him. The snow was too thick for the horse and it would not continue on its own. Slowly making his way up the mountain the warrior doubted that he would make it through the storm. Halfway up the mountain his horse fell, and died from the harsh cold. The man was angered and troubled greatly at the loss of his faithful steed, but bit his lip and cut some of its meat off before continuing. The winds grew stronger as he climbed higher and higher. His pace slowed greatly as his weakened state struggled against the winds and the steep incline. Eventually he was in the clouds above the winds. Soon the clear sky was visible and the air was much thinner. To the warriors’ surprise, there was a massive statue of one of the most powerful gods, Lord Hades. It would have been a dreadful sign if he were not on the brink of death. Instead, he prayed to the statue for the strength to live.

“Oh Lord Hades, g-give me the strength to return to my home to M-Macedon. I would offer my horse as a sacrifice to yourself but your emissaries have taken him from me as well.” The warrior prayed.

The warrior kneeled before the statue for a minute before he heard a great and pure voice.

“Macedonian… what is thy name?” the voice asked.

“M-my name is B-Baleian.” The warrior replied.

“Baleian, I shall reward upon thee the strength of the Gods, if you can prove yourself worthy. Do you accept?”

“Y-yes!” Answered Baleian with much relief in his voice.

From the sky descended an incredible suit of armor. Sounds of people suffering filled Baleians ears as the armor came down. The screams of men, women and children poured off the armor. It was sleek around all the edges, but looked very droll. It had no color it was just gray and had a strange helm that did not match with the rest of the armor very well,

“Wear this armor and defeat thy enemy. If you fail you will never return to your home in Macedon.” Stated the voice as the armor came to the ground and fastened itself to the warriors flesh. “Now defeat my minion and you shall live like no mortal ever has.”

With that, the statue began to shake violently, starting avalanches all over the mountain. Crumbling from the shaking, underneath a thin lair of rock was dark gray flesh that looked as if it was rotting. The statue rose up fifteen feet before the monster began to move away from its prison. With a roar, the monster shed off its rock shell and pulled its legs out from the ground, its legs brought it to nearly thirty feet in height. When the monster had freed itself from its prison, it let out a roar that shook the very mountain. Horns protruded horizontally off the sides of the beasts head; Baleian had never seen anything so wicked in his life. Baleian stared at its face that was remarkably ugly, its mouth was long and its bottom jaw came out farther than its top. It had three rows of the most jagged and sharp teeth Baleian had ever seen, with a serpents tongue in the middle. Its body was thin and scraggly it looked corrupted and malnourished. The beast certainly smelled like a beast too, its stench was almost too much for Baleian and made his eyes water. The warrior however began to feel revitalized and felt as if he were even stronger; the armor had replenished his body somehow. The warrior noticed two swords at his waist; they were plain blades having no sort of artwork or care put into. Just simple white handle and guard, their blades however were quite sharp and could easily cut flesh. He pulled out both of the swords and watched his unworldly enemy, Baleian did not know whether he had died on the mountain or not.

With a roar, the monster threw out its right arm at the warrior trying to snatch him in his hand. He quickly jumped up and landed on the monsters arm, like a nimble acrobat, Baleian felt faster, he was never able to move the way he was now. He began to run up the beasts arm, as if it was a path up a steep hill, the beast moving the whole time, trying grab at him with his other claw. Soon enough the monster took its left hand and grabbed the warrior, as if he were nothing but a small animal. Raising him into the air, the monster slammed the warrior into the ground with enough force to knock up mounds of dirt and pushing him nearly three feet into the frozen soil. The beast let go of Baleian almost certain that he would be dead. Slowly the warrior stood up from the crater, the slam to the ground had hurt him but he was alright, suffering no more damage than he would from losing his footing and falling.  The monster let out another huge roar as if he were trying to tell Baleian to give up. The stench of rotting corpses filled the air as the monster roared, Baleian could even see a human arm stuck between its teeth. Blue sparks began to swirl, pop and form together inside of its rancid mouth, still wide open. Soon a large ball of blue flame shot out of its mouth abruptly and rapidly like a bolt from a ballista. It came swiftly and suddenly catching Baleian completely off guard. The fire knocked him from his feet and hit him hard, he even had trouble breathing for a second. Baleian laid in the snow his armor smoking from the intense heat of the strange blue flame. The armor was charred black where the fire hit the armor; the smoke emitting from the spot was abundant as well. Slowly Baleian picked himself up; it felt as if the beast had spit a boulder at him. As he looked down, he was surprised to see how much of his armor was burned a dark black. There was a lot of black burned into the metal but the armor itself seemed stronger than before, not much stronger but stronger to say the least. The beast snickered a bit laughing at the small human while it stirred up more sparks for another offensive. Baleian began to run at the beast not giving it another chance to catch him off guard. The monster quickly spit another azure fireball at Baleian, he was able to hop over it like a flea and evade any damage. With that jump, Baleian gained enough height to reach the jaw of the beast and plunge his swords straight up into the bottom of its massive jaw. The beast bellowed out with a loud roar that rang in the Knights ears. The Knight twisted his blades loose and quickly made his way to the back of the beast, crawling along its body like a bug.  A sudden force struck the back of the beast, Baleian had plunged his swords into the beast again this time on his back. The monster began to squirm and tried to knock the warrior off its back, flailing its arms and reaching for him the way a starving child would reach for bread. The warrior struggled to keep a grip on the swords that slowly slid out of the wounds he made as the beast moved so violently. He had to push his swords back into the holes they made in the beasts back just to stay on the monsters back. The warrior then began to scale the back of the beast, as if he were climbing a wall of flesh. He slowly made his way up to the head of the monster, dodging the claws and attacks of the beast the whole way. With both his swords, the Knight stabbed them into the top of the beasts’ skull, and began to hang over the beasts face using his left sword to hold him in place. Baleian plunged the sword in his right hand into the left eye of the beast. Letting out a roar in pain, the monster triggered an avalanche on the huge mountain, it was so loud Baleian lost the grip on his swords and started to fall to the ground.  The monster grabbed the warrior out of the air with both his hands. One of the monsters hands grabbed Baleians right arm and the other hand grabbed his left. The beast started to pull the warrior in two, clearly taking pleasure in the pain it caused him. All Baleian could do was use his strength to try to pull the monsters hands back together. The warrior felt his arms’ being ripped out of their very sockets the pain was unbearable. His face turned red under the helmet as he strained himself Baleian let out a scream in pain. His muscles were fatigued and soar he did not think he would be able to pull his arms in closer. With his last try, the warrior managed to pull his arms in, relieving the pressure on his shoulders and body. When his arms were close enough the warrior was able to kick one of the monsters hands giving him enough time to free his other hand and jump down to the ground. Baleian landed by one of his swords laying dormant in the cold snow.

The monster retreated for a bit and let out small roars of pain, as if it were whimpering. The monster ripped the sword from its left eye and hurled it at the warrior. Baleian stepped to the side and dodged the flying blade.  to assess the threat of the warrior; the beast began to sprout spikes all over its back and from its elbows. It made the beast look much more menacing, as the spikes pierced through its skin. After the spikes were formed, a set of wings began to grow. The wings first started out as bubbles of the monsters flesh, bulging out of its back as if it were bubbling. Eventually the bubbles burst and the bony, demonic wings were free to stretch towards the sky.

“By the Gods, what is this beast?” Baleian asked himself.

The beast began to flap its wings and was soon air born. The monster began to breathe fire once again; a look came over its face as if it was happy and having fun with the situation. Baleian rolled out of the way, but because the monster could now fly, the fire came back at him more frequently. Baleian made his way to the dangling foot of the beast. He grabbed onto its foot and began to scale the beast again. The monster was easier to climb now from the spikes, much like tree branches he could just climb one and support himself on another. The beast, trying to knock Baleian off its back; flew up to where there was almost no air. Fainting for a bit Baleian lost his grip on the beast, and fell to the earth. The beast dived down after Baleian. Flying through the clouds the blizzard was still raging and was not about to get better. Right before Baleian hit the ice covered earth; the beast swooped down and caught him in its claws. The monster landed and slammed Baleian into the ground repeatedly hammering him. With one free arm, Baleian took one of his swords and stabbed it into the beasts’ hand. The monster threw Baleian into the air and blasted him with its fire. Baleian fell back to the earth as a flaming ball. The ice melted once Baleian crashed to the iced earth. The warrior slowly stood up, his armor steaming from the cold air irritating the singed metal.

“This armor is amazing. It’s as if I’m living in a dream, how can I not be dead?” Baleian asked himself as he looked at the armor.

The beast let out another loud roar that shook the mountains around them like a small earthquake. The monster stared down the Knight as he let out a feint roar, daring him to attack. Baleian readied his swords waiting for the beast to attack again he was extremely on edge. The sun began to set and the snow began to glow red with the sunset. Baleians breath froze as he breathed in the heavy cold. The tension Baleian felt made the moments seem like hours on end, just waiting for the monster to make a move. Baleian looked into the monsters eyes seeing into the beasts’ seamless soul. Feeling the pain many men and woman had suffered, all at the mangled hands of this beast. Baleian could almost hear their cries of pain and anguish, their prayers of desperation bringing them hope just before the end. A rattle of metal could be faintly heard in the howling winds. Baleian looked down and saw that his right arm was shaking uncontrollably as if he hurt a nerve in his arm.

“Strange I’m terrified but I know I can slay this beast…” Baleian said to himself. “I have too, I must be strong. The Gods blessed me with a second chance, I must not fail!”

With that, Baleian charged forth at the beast swords drawn and his fiercest ever. The monster threw forth its left claw abruptly trying to snatch the small Knight. Quickly Baleian rolled to the right and dodged its claw. The beast drew his claw back along the ground towards Baleian. The warrior jumped up into the air, he then landed on the monsters right shoulder. Baleian ran across the beasts back to the other shoulder. Baleian thrust one of his swords into the beasts back and jumped down to the ground while still holding the sword. The force ripped a huge gash in the beasts back and black, rotten blood flowed like a river from the incision. The blood steamed and bubbled on the ice. Without pulling out his sword, Baleian ran to the front of the beast opening the slash even more. The beast grabbed the warrior and started to bring him to its mouth. Using his swords to prop the beasts’ mouth open, Baleian shoved them into the beasts’ gums. The monster let out a high-pitched squeal, which rang in Baleians ears. Baleian lost control of his feet for a second and fell out of the beasts’ mouth along with his swords. More of the beasts black blood poured onto the ice and melted more and more away. Baleian used one of his swords to get back up on his feet. Although the monster was drenched in its own blood, it showed no sign of weakness. Baleian was not as resilient however; his body was becoming weak and frail. His fatigue began to set in as he breathed in the cold harsh mountain air. The armor may have protected Baleians delicate limbs, but had little effect on his endurance. This massive beast barely had to move to cover the battlefield, stretching across with ease like putty. Black blood fell off the monsters body like rain and stained the snow. Baleian had then realized that he was in fact dealing damage to its mass. The gleam it once had in its eyes was just a trickle and it now began to fear for its very life. With no sign of its action the beast suddenly grabbed Baleian and threw him into the side of the mountain. Ice and snow exploded out in all directions from where the warrior landed. The beast followed its attacker by flying up to Baleian and breathing fire above where he had landed. Knowing the blood would melt the snow the monster landed above the hole Baleian lay in; the beast began to tear at its massive wound. Blood fell like a waterfall from the beasts’ side. The pain was tremendous for the monster, so another high-pitched roar was set loose to shake the mountains. The snow below the beast then gave way and buried Baleian beneath it. More than ten feet of ice and blood was what separated Baleian from the surface. The blood loss was now getting to the beast as its head began to hang low. It was a small price to pay however for its most dangerous foe had now been frozen and burned at the same time.

Luckily for Baleian however the beast that guarded the armor did not know its full potential. The armor was more potent and powerful than what the beast knew. By this an avalanche was nothing for Baleian to handle. After five minutes of being buried alive, the snow began to part enough for a single man to come out. The sight of the warrior confused the beast but not close to being frightened. The beast jumped down in front of Baleian as a scare tactic. The warrior was unaffected and looked up at the beast. Some of its black blood dripped down onto the armor with a ping sound. The blood stained the armor black. With both his swords in their sheaths Baleian continued to glare at the beast. Quickly the warrior drew one of his swords and thrust it into the beasts’ heart with the same motion. The monster was in so much pain it could not even let out a screech. Baleian grabbed at the sword and twisted it clockwise before pulling it back out. The beast swiped at Baleian and knocked him back ten feet. While the warrior was away the beast used some of its last strength to take flight and begin one last big attack. The beast swooped down and grabbed Baleian. The warrior knew how to fight back against the gigantic monster and overcame its power eventually. Baleian crawled onto its back and drew his swords. Baleian began to chop at the beasts’ neck repeatedly. Baleian was quickly at the neck bone, the bone was as thick and tough as some of the hardest of rocks. The warrior shoved his sword between two of the vertebrae and used his swords as a wedge to pop off the beasts head. It took awhile before the spinal cord of the monster broke, but it eventually worked like a charm. After the beasts head was no longer attached Baleian began to cut away at the rest of the skin. The beasts severed head fell to the ground with a trail of blood coming down behind it. The body did not begin to fall until the beasts wings stopped moving.

            Eventually the wings drew dead and the titanic body fell to the frozen earth. The velocity the body was traveling at was extremely violent. The winds from the force were over one hundred miles per hour. Baleian could barely keep his grip on the body. As the body neared the clouds the air became harder to breathe and much colder. Ice began to grow on points of the armor. The trailing blood pouring from the neck of the body began to freeze from the winds. Right before the body hit the ice Baleian jumped off and rolled into some soft snow. All of a sudden the voice from before boomed throughout the mountains and cleared the harsh blizzard,

“You Baleian of Macedon have defeated the Appolyon. Bathe within its blood and absorb its great power.”

The armor unfastened itself from Baleians skin. The blood from the beast drew from out of the snow and forged with the armor. Staining the armor completely black. The armors natural strength grew along with its speed. Taking on a new demonic look and feel, the armor was now more complete and now steamed with a black mist.

“Baleian of Macedon, thou art the first mortal to use the armor to defeat the mighty Appolyon guardian. This armor will grant you never ending life from the sickness of death. Your blades grow stronger with every kill. However your armor is not complete, you must take it upon yourself to complete your armor and achieve your ultimate power. You must journey to the Colossus of Rhodes. Under the statue is a great temple secret to mortals. Guarded by Helios’s royal Imperial Guard, you must venture into the temple and receive the Skill of Shadows. Go forth Oronos for that is your new name, accept your new destiny, your soul belongs to us now.” Lord Hades commanded.

A black war steed then galloped up to the Knight. The horse was covered in black war armor, much like Baleians new armor. Crimson red jewels burning with black flames adorned the armor. The horses’ eyes steamed with the black mist, much like the mist from the armor as well. Oronos Lay his hand on the horses neck and felt its power. This was the greatest of steeds faster and stronger than any that had ever lived. Its skin was rough like soft stone. Its mane fall long down to its chest and its tail almost touching the ground. The saddle fit the Knight perfectly as he mounted the horse.  The steed moved its feet around under itself without actually moving forward as the Knight positioned himself on its back. The horse snorted its nose and let out a tiny jet of black mist. The clouds began to break apart and in the distance the statue of Colossus could barely be seen. The snow was now cleansed of the monsters blood, the blood now covering the armor increasing its already great power.

Baleian began to wonder the full extent of his new armors power. Did it have the power to change the way people lived in this world? Or did it have the power to destroy every mortals dreams and lives forever. Then he began to contemplate the reasons the Gods chose to save him. Was it just random for whoever could defeat the Appolyon, or was he chosen thousands of years ago within the stars themselves. Was he a slave to their power and nothing more? Or was he the one who could bring the Gods themselves to their knees?

As Baleian became accustomed to his new armor, he began to hear strange voices in the back of his mind. The voices would whisper in backwards Latin. Baleian had a hard time making out what the voices said. The voices were accompanied by screams of pain. The voices started to get louder and louder until all Baleian could hear was the voices accompanied by screams. Soon Baleian could stand no more and fell off his hell steed. Quickly Baleian grabbed his helmet and threw it off his head into the snow. Baleian began to breathe harder and harder. Pouring sweat as he clenched his head in his hands. The helmet began to steam and bleed. The blood stained the snow quickly, the eyes of the helm began to glow a dark crimson.

Baleian screamed as he suffered through this agony. The back of his head felt like it was being pulled apart. Screams rumbled through the icy mountains. The snow was now melted all around Baleian from the heat radiating from his armor. All of a sudden Baleian could feel a hand on his shoulder. Baleian quickly drew one of his swords, in less than a second Baleian was completely turned around.

As Baleian looked up at the being he realized he had never seen anything like it. It was a tall man with pale gray skin; the man had a long white beard. This strange man had a scar on his right eye and looked as if he was blind in that eye. Magnificent, large, black, bird like wings came out of the man’s back and flapped down as Baleian stared up. The man was attired in a wonderful set of white armor. His armor seemed much more advanced, one could easily tell that it would protect more than the traditional Macedonian armor Baleian was accustomed too. Not one part of his body was exposed to harm except for his head where he wore no helmet. The man carried two swords on his side, both swords looked exactly the same and the handles were longer than one would normally want. Upon further inspection however, it was apparent that the swords could be joined at the ends and become a double bladed glaive. The blades of the swords were misshapen but made it look far deadlier. Runes inscribed the blades and glowed a bright black.

“Baleian, your mind is rejecting the armor. You must accept your fate if you wish to live with this power.” Commanded the strange warrior.

“Wh-who are you?!” Baleian screamed.

“I am the one who has been sent to help you. The one who will teach you to accept what is unknown to mortals.” Answered the warrior.

“How do I make this pain stop?!” Baleian continued to scream. “I can’t take this much longer!”

“Make it known that anything you face from this day forth is real. Anything you imagine is real in one way or another.”

 “That makes no sense! Just tell me how I can make this stop!” Baleian begged.

“I have told you all I can. It is up to you if you can withstand this. The armor may take care of your frail body, but only you can protect your mind.” The warrior said as he flapped his wings and went up three feet in the air. “I must now return to Lord Lucifer.”

Slowly Baleian began to realize he had much more problems than he had started with, and they were not going to go away because he did not believe in them. As he began to accept this, the pain slowly but surely subsided. The heat radiating off the armor began to cool as Baleians breathing became calmer. The Hell Steed walked up to Baleian and snorted mist from its nose. Baleian walked over to where he had thrown his helmet, and picked it up. To his surprise the blood that poured from the helmet was gone, and actually looked cleaner than before.  Slowly Baleian placed the helmet back on his sweat-drenched head and mounted up. The steeds pace began with a slow trot then worked its way up to a gallop. The snow melting beneath its bloody hooves. Baleian’s cloak flapped wildly in the wind as the edges on the armor cut through the air. The port of Rhodes seemed much farther away than when he first set out from where the Appolyon was slain. Perhaps the gods made the illusion that it was closer to help persuade Oronos.

But what really stuck in Baleians mind was that one warrior. What was he? Those wings were not manmade but organic. He could see the lining in the feathers. His armor was outstanding, second only to the armor Baleian had inherited. But the difference was apparent in both armors aside from the way they were shaped. The colors, the auras invisible to the eye, resonating from the armors surface. For now Baleian rode on having, no clue what was to come next. All he could do now was hope the gods were watching over him.

 

Author's Note

I am currently trying to adapt this into a series of screenplays.

Reviews

[SM Davis]

I enjoyed your dialogues and the character development. I would have liked to see a few less run on sentences, and a bit more introduction in the first paragraph. However, it is a nice story and I am looking forward to reading the next installment.