This time she parried Devil’s Sin, somewhat, for it sundered her dagger and cut two of her fingers off. This was the least of her problems, however, for Voyse’s other hand still held a dagger, and it plunged right under her lower left rib. As soon as Rory noticed the blood squirting from her mouth, her eyes filled with tears.
Voyse tossed Devil’s Sin to the ground and clutched both of the dagger hilts protruding from Rory’s chest. He leaped up, planting both feet on her collar, and gave a mighty kick. Voyse landed some feet in front of Rory, both of his hooked daggers still stuck to lower ribs and dripping with blood. The dark mage clutched at her torn chest and gave out a horrific cry of pain. That would hardly stop Voyse. He chanted some inconceivable words, and the two daggers he held suddenly turned into long, blazing swords crackling with dark energy. Without moving, he slashed forward sending two massive blades of dark energy crossing in a X formation right across Rory, simply splitting her into pieces. After a few seconds, all that remained was two daggers stuck in the ground behind a pile of smoking gore, both of the blades still sparking with dark bolts.
Panting, Voyse fell to his knees. A laugh slowly began to fall from his lips, until finally he was laughing aloud. He managed to his feet and retrieved his daggers. As he turned to pick up Devil’s Sin, his arm suddenly began to shake as it neared the blade.
“Why had I fallen into such a frenzy? What happened to me?” he asked himself, edging closer to the blade. Without further question, Voyse picked up the demonic blade and quickly sheathed it. With a sigh of relief, he slumped against the side of the bridge and closed his eyes.
“I can’t continue to do this…I’ve got to get a grip. Ever since I touched that accursed Adept’s Stone and lost it, my edge just hasn’t been the same. What is happening to me?!” he clutched his head and groaned, for he had forgotten how to cry long ago.
**********
“Amazing…so that is how this Voyse character plays?” Julia wondered to herself as she witnessed the battle on the bridge from a nearby tower.
Julia Breden was the younger sister of Jowl Breden, and fourth in control. She was short and skinny, the exact opposite of her beast of a brother. She had the same gray eyes as her brother, but she had long silver hair, much different than Jowl’s. Though she was the head mage of Draven’s Army, there was a balance between magic and fighting, and she fell far short of the fighting side. Where her brother was mostly fighting and little magic, Julia was the exact opposite much like everything else between them.
Though she had been given the meager task of exploring the northern lands for followers, Julia would gladly do anything for Draven, for in the short time that she knew him she had grown a huge adulation of the void master. She wanted nothing other than to be his, and she would do anything to appease her master.
She had come across the traveling Voyse on her way back to her current position of control and decided it best to warn her assistant Rory about him. Unfortunately, it seemed the ambitious young dark mage was not enough for the deadly assassin, but Julia was hardly concerned. In due time he would have to face her, and she intended to overpower him completely. Not now, of course. She enjoyed this little game he played.
A master of the dark arts, Julia understood completely what just happened on the bridge. Where Rory knew how to cast some powerful dark magic, Voyse knew how to sacrifice summon and seemed more than willing to do it. Unlike standard magic casting, sacrifice summoning let a dark adept dive into the most powerful of dark spells, at the sacrifice of human flesh or blood, of course. Endless possibilities, but a high price for such a gamble. Where Voyse could sacrifice summon some fairly powerful dark magic, Julia knew how to cast it normally.
With a giggle, Julia entertained the thoughts of obliterating the insolent assassin. She shook away the thoughts and turned back to her business.
**********
Voyse slowly rose to his feet and began walking towards the village. He didn’t know what he was going to do when he got there, for the place was swarming with Bladenheart soldiers. Either he could avoid them all or stay and fight. Voyse preferred the former.
Once he neared the gates, he fell into the shadows and slipped unnoticed over the walls and into the village. He continued to sneak around in the shadows, not daring to get caught. The merchant back in Sol City said that he could find an old woman who knew the whereabouts of the artifact he sought. But where could that old lady be? And which one? It suddenly hit Voyse. Just across the street from where he hid lay a fortune telling shop. What better place for an old wise woman to be than there?
After checking to make sure everything was clear, Voyse darted across the street and silently stalked into the shop. Once inside, he found two soldiers harassing an old woman.
As silent as ever, Voyse crept up behind the first man and snatched up one of the many burning candles on the table. He jabbed the flame of the candle into the man’s eye. Just as the man began to scream out in pain, Voyse grabbed another candle and shoved it down his throat. After a few seconds of struggling, the man fell limp to the floor. The second soldier spun around to see the assassin. He opened his mouth as if to shout out an alarm. Voyse could not allow this. He picked up the old woman’s crystal ball and bashed the man’s face in. The soldier fell back a step, dazed. Voyse repeated the attack a few times over until he heard and felt the telltale “crunch” of bone. He eased the man to the ground and returned the crystal ball to its rightful place, careful to put the blood-stained end on the table so no one could see.