Daggerblade

Prologue
".....And thy shall be known as Daggerblade, thy as swift in striking as a dagger, deadly as the poison from the Gveldframs themselves, and destructive as the gods will thy to be. There be no turning back as a god, and none that commit a crime within the Light Heavens will not leave unpunished. No mortal is bound to the Light Heavens, and nor be god bound to the mortal land of Vlafin, and for darkness gone, we take in thy control to grant you, Lord Daggerblade, God of Destruction, Lord of the Night."

-Lord Graywin of the Gods, Verse of Grantage, Holy Tome of Light

His Return
''Daggerblade was in a dream. The gods had him trapped, boxed, and his ax nor Night powers could help him here. "You have betrayed us, O' Daggerblade." spoke Lord Graywin, his Holy Sword, silver and gleaming in the light, extended at Daggerblade's red-skinned throat. "And I remember reciting the Verse of Grantage, and you know what will happen." Lord Templar, God of Punishment, stepped forward. Raising his mighty hand, he grabbed Daggerblade by the throat. "As I remember clearly, scum, you would've been dead." And upon saying that, Graywin thrust his sword and into Daggerblade's throat it went. The blood splashing everywhere, his tortured eyes staring in shock at the gods surrounding him, his hands around his own throat and-''

Daggerblade opened his eyes, his tired and weary eyes, as he realized that it was the same dream, the same dream that he had for 300 years ever since he was imprisoned in the Black Gardens. Daggerblade rose up angrily, and grabbed the cell gates with his four arms. "ARUGH!!!" he howled in rage, and shook the gates angrily, his red and tortured stare closed. He pulled the gates, just hoping they would come off their hinges. "CRACK!!" Daggerblade opened his eyes confused, shocked, and for a time in 300 years, a slight bit happy. He had never even tried to pull the gates off their hinges. Then he remembered what Templar said. That only gods could get out of the Black Gardens. But he was removed from position. Then it hit him. That Knight of the Grace, Thadon, he hadn't removed his powers. Daggerblade's position may be gone, but his powers and his Ax of Darkness stayed. Daggerblade smiled at the irony. He walked towards the Confinement Arena, where prisoner belongings were stored. Hastily grabbing his Ax, Daggerblade had a new goal in mind. The gods had always protected that useless human land. If he wanted revenge, why not just destroy that stupid planet? Now to get to the Holy Gates, to put my plan in action. This was too simple. Daggerblade would win, the gods would not prevail, and they would fall with the rest of them. The Underworld would come back, and the Prophecy, the Prophecy of Doom. He could fulfill that, win the side of Haünchess, get more power. It was just too easy. ''Soon, Daggerblade will win. He always wins.''

Rise of Sun
High Lord Drake Thaldin Mathias was troubled. He had enough to worry about with the dark armies of Emperor Haünchess of Death about to strike, but now the reports of his own son, young and noble Sir Leon Drake Mathias of the Dragon, the great and noble Dragon, running around, getting drunk, and fighting with his comrades? It was as though the Dark Gates had opened and he was in between the war. It was bad enough. Drake scratched at his beard thoughtfully, thinking about that this was just another part of the revolution. It wasn't much more than a plot in the midst, though he could've lived without. He was about to get up from his throne when the main doors burst open. "Milord, I have received Prince Sarton's reply." No doubt, it was the messenger, Thomas Mweargür. Drake motioned him to come. Thomas bowed and handed Drake the scroll. If it Drake hadn't received word of his son's trouble, he wouldn't have been so angry at that time. But it got even worse. His brow getting sweaty, it took a while to take in the words on the scroll.

To High Lord Drake Thaldin Mathias of Dranicon:

I, Prince Sarton of the city of Ôrián, reject your offer for alliance between our two kingdoms.

Respectfully signed,

Prince Sarton of Ôrián

Snatching up the scroll in fury, Drake threw it to the ground and drew his sword. "Fine! If Sarton doesn't want an alliance, he'll have a war!" Drake snarled. Drake held the sword blade-down and stabbed the scroll. "Curse Sarton! Curse him to the Underworlds! He's a pompous fat rat who thinks he has too much power! For all I care, he could be burning in Oblivion!" Drake turned to the frightened Thomas. "Thomas. Gather my men. The Elites, I mean. Saddle up my horses. We'll take down the walls first. Sarton has weak guards and even weaker elites." Thomas scattered away, his burlap sack-trousers flapping loosely behind him. Snatching his sword from the ground, Drake sheathed the blade in his belt, sighing. He looked wearily out the window to his left, the sun rising up, light moderately filling his lone courtroom.

Daggerblade's Vengeance
Daggerblade made it. Taking down the Holy Gates was easy. A simple slash from his ax to weaken the lock, then ripping it apart with his four arms. He arrived near some sort of village, just some straw huts and farming fields and a bunch of dopey farmers. Daggerblade felt no pain as he summoned a fireball and threw it down at the village. The fireball was as big as Daggerblade's hand, which was large since Daggerblade was as big as three stories high. He watched anxiously as he saw the villagers getting burned, some already dead, and some being burned alive. He didn't care for their screams, screams that pleaded mercy. Don't care for anything that won't care back. thought Daggerblade. That's my motto. A sudden flush of hatred grew as he saw some lucky farmers running away. Not lucky enough. Daggerblade drew his ax from his back and struck down at the farmers, who were vanquished in a sudden strike of blood and bone, crushed and obviosly dead. No one had ever escaped Daggerblade's Ax of Darkness before, and no one was likely to ever will. Trudging down the hill, his demonic eyes met something, a color of brilliant gold and silver and bright blue, taller than himself, maybe, and the scent of humans lurking around every corner. What had Greywin called it? Ôrián? Perhaps, but whatever the name, it was an anchor and prize that Daggerblade felt ready to take on. Maybe this time, he'd get something better than just farmers and villages. Such a grand city to be put to a grand waste.

Drake motioned silently to his men to stop. They had reached the walls of Ôrián, and there were no guards. Still, they had to be careful. Though his guards weren't powerful, Sarton was though. Detection would mean death for his men, and imprisonment for him. Drake didn't know what was worse. Just as they were about to get off their horses, a man, the Stablemaster stopped them. "What are you doing here?" the man hissed quietly. "Don't you know what's about to happen? Daggerblade's coming!!!" The man looked hysterical and wide-eyed. Probably a Moonsugar addict. "Excuse me sire, but we are the courtsmen of the Order of the Dragon, and I order you to step-" The man grabbed Drake by the shoulders, Drake's guards tensing and drawing their swords. "Listen to me milord, there's an event that's going to happen tonight, and it ain't the Greywin festival. Daggerblade is coming to kill everyone here. I've seen what's going to happen. Trust me." For some strange reason, Drake actually felt like he could trust the man. But if that event was going to happen, then, unfortunately, he had to save Sarton. "My men, go back. I trust this man. His words don't carry any insanity or treachery in this. Trust my guidance." Captain Darloware, his elite captain, shrugged and motioned the men to go back on their horses. Slowly turning around, they galloped back to Dranicon's main road. Drake tightened his cape and ran towards the gates.

Daggerblade stomped his foot down and felt the crushing of human bones. Summoning yet another fireball, he threw it at another building, engulfing it with flames. Walking down the narrow streets absently, he stepped on another group of guards. Daggerblade let out a hearty and evil laugh, filling him with happiness. "Ó, how you humans are so weak!" he shouted as he slashed his ax at the famous Clock Tower. The falling debris, along with the Golden Bell, fell down and nearly crushed a well dressed man wearing armor on the streets. Staring down at the man in rage, it wasn't until he felt a blade sink into his foot did he stop flinging fireballs at the man.

Drake dodged the fireball nearly by inches, feeling the heat on his face. "Daggerblade! You rust-covered wrench! I should've turned you in to Haünchess years ago!!!" Drake rolled out of the way as Daggerblade tried to slash him with the Ax of Darkness. "So, I see you still keep that damned ax!" Drake taunted.

Daggerblade felt his dark blood drain from his face as he recognized that heroic, and his most despised, voice. It was none other than the voice of Drake Thaldin Mathias, father of that young rat, Leon Drake Mathias, who had easily thwarted Haünchess personally for trying to break him free. "Well, if it isn't Drake! How's your bastid son, Leon?"

Drake felt rage rush into him at the end of Daggerblade's sentence. Charging like a bull, he struck down with all his might at Daggerblade's foot once more, dark blood splashing everywhere. "He's fine!" Drake shouted back, making no effort to keep the anger out of his voice. "How's your dog, Aörèwĩn? Been licking your feet often?" Drake actually smiled at Daggerblade's howl of vengeance.

Daggerblade managed to swing one last time at Drake before he staggered back. "Curse you, Mathias!" he howled one last time before he fell down. But not defeated. Only tired of the fact of being hurt so badly. Daggerblade managed to grab a nearby building for support, and got up once more. But Drake was gone.

Drake ran fast back to the stables. Since that now Daggerblade was back, he couldn't save Sarton. Hurriedly sheathing his sword, he climbed up the leather saddle of his horse and rode back to the Dranicon Road, determined to spread word of the demon's arrival and drive Daggerblade out of Vlafin once and for all.

END OF CHAPTER ONE