"THEIR PETTY GAMES, RATS SCURRYING THE FLOORS OF A BAITED REALM. I WISH THEY KNEW THAT THEY HAD DIED, EVEN BEFORE THEY WERE BORN."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl83U8XuBwo
***
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7tEIT4GAc
PHASE ONE
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChBoaYt0Qq
"These damn writers !" Fang yelled as he dropped the book on the table, "don't they know how to write any thing apart from romance ?"
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUaqaKyuKV
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGq9E9e1VHN
"But you always read it master Fang", the female butler of Fang's mansion, Artena, a Warewolf, said as she poured his tea into a cup.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftKfST32fI
"I do ?" Fang looked a bit surprised by her remark, "well", he shrugged, "maybe it's because I can't help it."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaCZnUs29w
"So what kind of stories do you like master Fang ?" Artena asked.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Br3WJsEV5
"Don't tell me you don't know", he said, "the legends, epics and tales of the ancients and future, one with battles and endless wars, the conquest of empires and realms ..."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYp022R5EZ
"I get it, I get it, master Fang", Artena said, "now you can have your tea" she said handing the cup and saucer to master Fang who was sitting at the window of his room.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNQUfyPV8T
"I know that's your specialty", she reminded, "especially fooling people around with your acts."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdBTqMF8pC
Balkyre Fang gave a guilty smile, Artena knew alright, that he wasn't just some prodigal who was waiting for the demise of his father, the patriarch of the Balkyre family, Duke Mor. Fang was capable of doing worse than that, even the demise of the Vercan realm was something Fang could bring about with his eyes closed.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIkFIt1fwc
"The prince and your sister have been keeping an eye on you lately.", Artena reminded.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHS3jXm4fp3
"Let them play their game", Fang said, that board of geometric patterns taking form before him as he drank his tea, it's surface filled with those game pieces which Fang moved deftly as though he already knew the outcome of the moves he was making, even before he had made them.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTPHQoHGVF
"What they don't know is", Fang said as he took the position of another game piece which burned into the air, "that the board itself was my doing."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5NZCvRwzu
***
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XYd3pVQ4T
"You said that the Sage Majors have confirmed that this being is more powerful than even Olana ?"
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuEuVg9iAp
"Yes master Morca", the female shrouded in a red cloak replied.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsIVCmMWoR
"Strange indeed", said Morca, "For him to able to cause a rift in the Orcan winds of Phelmur and surpass the trickery of the Erama, he's indeed a being that can't be rivalled by most."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCNux42SNy
***
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxwdDhEFYK
"Yes I am", Lord Raven said to the thundering skies, "I can be rivalled by none !"
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbt4Pb0iN3G
The flashes of lightning which came with the drizzling rain swept over this terrain like a storm of white flames, not even the vampires warewolves and beings of the underworld could withstand the thunderbolts and lightning flashes of the Ciaran Void.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpJI4XBO3b
"But I can", Lord Raven mused, "because I am unrivalled."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87phA3VSFD
Taking a daring leap from the edge of that floating formation, Lord Raven fell through the mesh of lightning intertwining itself with the red clouds of this plain and when he finally landed on this barren soil, those seven pillars rose from the depths of the earth.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpDtd001mr
"Finally", lord Raven sighed, "the Seven Pillars of Ciara."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbix3943E1c
PHASE TWO
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡep6cL2ss2P
Dragging along the corpse of the wargoyle, sword in hand and blood now an ointment decorating his once royal robe, this ghostly form emerged form the hill of corpses. Staring at the skies brimming with the wings of these flying beasts, endless in their numbers, he knew that the end of this battle was far from over.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOWjm6HdhwB
"Artor", Megraz mused to himself, "you are really desperate aren't you ? Unfortunately", he screamed to the skies throwing his sword away, "so am I !"
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIPn3Htdbk
The skies thundered and those blue flashes of light fell like pillars of fire striking down that army of flying wargoyles, making them screech as they burnt.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPb1tlSyfL
"You think you came from hell", Megraz challenged, his claws and fangs elongating themselves, they raved of a monstrous scarlet, "I'll show you what real hell looks like."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBox3ws6OHE
His being frayed through the distance, leaping to the skies, Megraz began a massacre, the carnage was severe and it rained blood, the screeches intensified, but it wasn't enough to appease the enraged Magrez, they wanted his life, but before they could take his, he was going to take theirs.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqvIIKPnAq
***
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkC5fFmPsam
"His majesty !" Mernon gasped as he saw the second prince walk into the courtroom covered in blood.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxFBJSnjPi
"What happened ?" Counsellor Morman feigned concern, but a stare from the bloody Megraz made him hold back. It was a daring stare that only said one thing, "You failed again Morman."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kc6b4rEIV
***
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRndqAi4yTr
"How long will this petty game continue ?" Mernon thought aloud.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKzlhIWxva
"As long as one player isn't left standing." Megraz replied as he and Mernon walked the courtyard of the royal palace, "Any news about Balkyre Fang ?"
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxozfDBvtq
"His majesty", Mernon complained, "why are you so interested in a black sheep like Fang ?"
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKxNP1ugdJ
"His being a black sheep is my trump card." Megraz replied.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0LVEHal5I
"You refused to forge a relationship with the more renown heirs of the Balkyres yet you are pursuing the oddball among them."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUvdEAw2nQ
"It's his oddity that makes him more useful." Megraz answered calmly, "Balkyre Fang's siblings are trying to woo the support of the royal family in order to strengthen their hold of inheriting the Dukedom, and the first and third prince want the support of the elite families of Verca especially the Balkyres, in order to strengthen their position as heirs to the throne."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWDzyQ9NPH
"They each have their interests", Mernon pointed further.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzEdDY9yu8
"But two to four makes it a tug of war not between the princes, but the elite families", Megraz continued, "each family wanting the favour of the next king will do anything to ensure their candidate succeeds at all costs, making them disposable."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPNsod0Uwx
"With a surplus of allies wanting to gain the favour of the first and third prince, they have turned themselves into the princes' pawns."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKSy8trUoq
"Don't forget Mernon", Megraz pointed out, "there isn't one prince."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaV4dwebHj
"Since there are two masters ..." Mernon postulated.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTAAxLyWvl
"It doesn't matter who the elite families serve."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYuBDf74jpY
PHASE THREE
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5yCIwZ7SC
"It doesn't really matter who they serve does it ?" Lord Raven said as he studied the inscriptions on each of the Ciaran pillars.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubgjzlcQMQ
"And it is their insolence that shall serve my purpose."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAn7He33szq
***
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnw0ozhQNXR
"But what makes the second prince view Balkyre Fang as the perfect option ?" Mernon probed.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJHBhjgqSJ
"Because he isn't seen as being capable of rocking the boat ?" Magrez revealed.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZO7YCpysR
"And his majesty wants him to sink the entire ship."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLVpjz20YX
"You're correct Mernon", Megraz affirmed, "no one would expect that someone who isn't capable of squashing a flea, skin a living creature alive and with the smile of a ruthless killer."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEQAveQ4oY
***
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGd4A66V4G
"Neither rocking the boat nor sinking the ship is needed to be done from the inside", Lord Raven mused to himself as he stood at the centre of the Ciaran pillars, with its formation taking form above him.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKixYsXEXcw
"Being the sea, it'll take only a second for me to have them engulfed in the claws of my waves."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67nbgMYitH
That halo rose from the core of the Ciaran formation rising to the skies it made the earth quake.
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6mfsrePyu
***
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRNqLJVSpl
"Do you think Balkyre Fang is capable of becoming such an anomaly ?"
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPN0L0UdzOP
"The possibilities aren't solid Mernon", Megraz smiled, "but it doesn't matter how the tables are turned, whether upsidedown or inside out, all I know is that this realm will never be the same."
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcbmb9L60v
***
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDgs7GNQIv
The Ciaran pillars began to crumble as the fury of that rising halo intensified. Lord Raven standing at its core with that deadly smirk of his lips, unfazed by the chances of being consumed in this rage of chaos. It didn't matter to him whether the earth crumbled or the heavens fell, after this ...
176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEbun8fFP8
"The nether realms will never be the same ever again." Lord Raven grinned to the shattering skies.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
