Ethereal Vortex:

Dark Awakening

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       Evil has existed all over the land in one form or another. How did it all being one asks? Some say evil has always existed as has good. Other just say someone became tired of the ways of good and became evil. Some even say that the evil are just misguided, and that they can be turned back into good people. The truth was that evil just spawned and had existed before good; good was formed from evil by the gods to offset evil. All evil has its roots; this evil person starts his roots in “the ocean of blood”. The field that remains red, and now that person’s tale unfolds for your own ears.

          A joyous event for a family. A mother had just given birth to their first son. While he ran playing without a care in the world his parents stood watching with troubled minds behind joyous smiles. The question was how were they going to support him? They were a poor family with nobody left to turn to and had been exiled from their former land. What could they do?

          Time passed as it usually did. Then a most unfortunate day came. The family was passing through the “ocean of blood” with their son at their side. That’s when it happened, half way through the field opened up and a demon walked forth from the spewing from the ground. The family tried to run but with a wave of his hand the demon rooted them in place. The demon struck such a fearful sight, though not standing very tall the crown and sword of he held were enough to scare any person. His eyes glowed an eerie red as he spoke, “Give up the child.” The parents cried out and begged and pleaded to no avail. “Silence!” With a wave of his hand the parents had been slain and all that was left was the whimpering child.

          The kid is now under the control of the demon. Over the years his mind had been slowly corrupted, and his soul turned evil. He had been re-named Diel, and had also been breed as the successor to the demon king. Rumors of rebellion had been murmured at the thought of the king being replaced by a human, a simple mortal, and the fact that he was not even at least half demon. The rumors were silenced when the kid now a man exercised his swordsmanship.

          One last preparation was required for Diel to become king once his false father stepped down. This final thing branded him as true ruler of all demons. It was night and Diel stood in front of a pit of fire facing the other demons. With a face of utter calm he began chanting in what is known as the “tongue of the ancient”, which was lost to humans. The fire began to stir then surged upward into the air. Behind Diel a shadow with horns began to rise and hover above him. Without warning the shadow plunged into Diel and into his soul knocking him off balance and into the pit of fire.

          Silence was heavy in the air when the fire suddenly erupted upward killing a few other demons. When the fire dropped back down Diel was seen floating above the pit, his face and arms covered in demon markings and with a pair of wings on his back. His place as ruler of all demons was solidified.

          Now you have the basics on how the half demon Diel came into being. His rule of the underworld was one of complete power and tyranny. Anyone who dared oppose him was slain at the blade of his sword simply known as Soul Edge. Even his advisors dared not to question him or do their job and give him advice.

          Mortals on the top of the world had begun to ponder what was going on. Demon raids had ceased and seemingly completely stopped. Unbeknownst to them the demons were gathering, training, preparing, and conserving themselves for what they called an apocalypse. It had been brewing for quite some time. The demons believed that since evil had existed first, and had evidently not been dwelling in the lower bowels of the world that they were entitled to live on top. One problem was there though; since humans would hate them they would have to simply destroy the humans. Simple enough, right? Then why were they so easily repelled on raids? Diel believed it was simply leadership problems. His first act after becoming demon lord was to slay the one he succeeded. He did just that and locking his soul in his blade with the other countless souls of those he had slain.

          The time had come for them to take over. It was the New Year and humans should have drunk themselves to sleep. It would be easy, they’d take out a kingdom and use it as their base and slowly expand. It was simple yet seemingly flawlessly designed in all of its aspects.

          Midnight tolled and the same hole in the “ocean of blood” that had taken Diel down was used to bring him back up onto the surface. He hovered above the rest of the demons, his dark, arcane magic glowing from him. It was an appearance that could strike feat into and freeze the bravest of hearts. The half demon that appeared as a wraith slowly floated ahead of the army toward the kingdom they had picked as their base of operation.

          Unbeknownst to the demons they had made a fatal flaw. They had not scouted out the kingdom they planned on taking over. The kingdom was not much. It was really a very gigantic castle that was surrounded by even bigger walls. It was well armed with over ten score fighters and one of the most revered champions throughout the lands. Tonight they had about fifty guards patrolling the wall tops.

          Before the demons knew it, they were set upon by a volley of arrows that slew ten of their forces. A small chuckle escaped the lips of Diel as he erected a barrier of magic for cover as the demons charged the walls. Because of the contact of stone and the barrier the walls immediately buckled as the horde filed through the ruins doing battle with the humans.

          Now for a chance to test my skill. The best of the demons, and the best of the humans. The thought echoed around the mind of Diel. With ten of his best demons behind him he charged forward into the castle. The biggest dent in the human number came from those eleven warriors. Diel’s sword lashed out here and there, easily slashing through armor and flesh. Whether the slash was deep or shallow the human fell instantly, their souls absorbed into the sword’s blade.

          Diel stood with a confident smirk upon his face when he finally reached the throne room and his ultimate challenge: Fatelin, champion of the humans. Within a flash Fatelin had leveled the ten followers of Diel. It began with a loud clash and shower of sparks. Spinning in and out they lashed at each other with a honed expertise. Each thrust and parry was perfectly performed by each warrior. Only visible to their eyes auras along with blades clashed against each other.

          Though the demons had defeated the human’s outside it could not be counted a victory if their leader failed in his battle to the death. Everything rode on the shoulders of the fight. Fatelin and Diel locked blades and began a shoving match. Fatelin was loosing ground and being forced back against the wall. The blade of Diel was just a few inches from his face when Fatelin let loose a mighty roar. With the surge of energy he knocked a startled Diel backwards. The shoving match continued with both men-using burst of energy to gain ground on each other.

           With a twist of his wrist Diel disarmed Fatelin, though the human champion wasn’t to be beaten so easily. Like a flash of lightning Fatelin moved in and out dodging the slashes of the blade delivering stinging blows to the face of Diel with his gauntlet covered hands.

          Though his face was a bloody mess Diel was far from beaten despite his blade missing its target. He had an ace up his sleeve and with a concentration of his magic he silently moved while leaving an after image of where he had stood. Fatelin struck out at it only to stumble forward and down to the ground as the Soul Edge struck through his armor and absorbed his soul. All that was left was a withered body clad in battle armor.