Agony Concerto. (Closed to Zerith)

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Pacing back and forth in the familiar halls of The Citadel, Lorenor had much on his mind. The most important matter of them all was a nuisance named The Ixian Knights. The high priest knew that they were his enemy. I have to destroy them. Sei Orlouge will become a threat to everything I have fought to create. Lorenor stopped his restless pacing and his face became distant. He was listening to the word of N'Jal. As he listened, he prepared to obey. He was to begin the extermination process of the captain-guard of the Ixian Knights and rip their leadership body apart.

If Lorenor could rise to the challenge and destroy the Ixian Knights once and for all, N'Jal's war machine would have no challenge. The high priest listened to that lulling word, that sweet seductive voice of the mother-goddess. When he listened to the voice as it instructed, the aging high priest prepared to plan and act. Lorenor had become a man of action, no longer hiding in the shadow.

As he stood in the halls of The Citadel, the mutant was approached by a monk of the order. Lorenor felt the man's approach more than he actually saw, or, paid heed to the monk. Like everybody else, they were just subjects to the grand primus. Turning his attention to the monk after a full minute passed, Lorenor temporarily stopped his commune with N'Jal. Folding his arms before his chest, the high priest sighed deeply. His eyes observed the simple garb of the monk. He was clearly an acolyte.

"So you are going to go through with it?" The monk suddenly asked.

Lorenor blinked twice.

"I must. The Ixian Knights will fall by my hands." Lorenor said carefully. "Sei Orlouge is my enemy. Thus. All of his allies are my enemy as well. He seeks to unite the Thaynehood under one common banner. N'Jal wouldst not allow this to occur." The mutant paused for a moment. Then he continued. "Sei Orlouge is a separate problem that will be dealt with later."

"So ye wouldst declare open war on The Ixian Knights?" The monk asked incredulously. "They are a humanitarian group of philanthropists. Lorenor ye surely canst not oppose that..."

Lorenor suddenly raised his hand as a signal that the monk should shut up.

"When The All-Thayne broke, the greater Thayne came to pass. My lady was what remained. The great Thayne were favored by the citizens of Althanas. Even the lesser Thayne held more esteem that my lady wouldst. Outcast. On a rock outside of Althanas, and left to suffer. The Ixian Knights fight to unify The Thayne. I fight to destroy their influence on Althanas so that my lady may once again know her true power." Lorenor closed his eyes for a few moments. "I am declaring war on the Ixian Knights. I shall meet their Captains and skilled Warriors in battle one by one and destroy them with my bare hands." Lorenor looked at the monk with an extremely serious expression. "On my behalf, set a challenge to the Ixian Knights. Lorenor will fight them. Lorenor will kill them. I will crush everything that they represent in one fell stroke!" Lorenor finished as he prepared the challenge to the Ixian Knights. He knew the neutral minded monks would allow him to declare open warfare with The CItadel as their battleground.

No harm no foul.

But to Lorenor, this was something more. Something deeper. This was him scouting out the weaknesses of the Knights and preparing to destroy them one by one.

"Send out word to the Knights. That the darkness is waiting for them. The darkness will claim their very souls. Prepare my chamber, monk." Lorenor said. "Allow the first arriving member of the Knights to set the chamber to whatever arena he deems appropriate for our battle. I merely wish to be the one to undo the Knights forever."

"Is there anything else Lord Loernor?" The monk asked.

"There is." Lorenor said. "Make the rules for this match a death-battle. And let it be known to the fellow representing the Knights that this will be to the death." The mutant said carefully. "I shall be waiting in my usual chamber." With that, Lorenor left the monk to his vices and walked forward towards his first encounter with a member of the Ixian Knights.

Enemy.

[Zerith]

“You wanted you see me, Sei?”

The words hung in the air of the Mystic’s office for a little longer than usual as Zerith stood in front of his leader’s desk. Without thinking, the brown haired, blue eyed halberdier bit his lip out of nervousness while his eyes quickly shifted from side to side and looked around the room. While the thick blue carpet was a nice colour that the prince was sure his wife would approve of, the stone walls were certainly things she wouldn’t. Yet somehow Sei’s style seemed to work, on one wall he had hung up a famous quote about leadership that supposedly said by Thoracis while on another hung a large, detailed map of Corone. The mute’s desk was solid yew, stained a dark colour and covered with papers and to Sei’s right stood a photo of his daughters.

Eventually the Avatar of Alerar finally realized that he had a visitor and immediately shifted his attention from whatever had been so distracting toward the prince. “Zerith,” the mute finally spoke, his voice sounding pleasant and relieved. “I’m happy to see you’ve made your recovery. How’s the shoulder?”

The honest inquiry caused the warder’s facial expression to turn cold. “It’s fine, a little sore every now and then,” he answered. The subject of his shoulder and what happened to it was one that Zerith didn’t want to be reminded of. Two months had passed since his daughter, Siela, had been taken by Jebb Remi and Andy Rorton. Back then those two men had successfully turned Zerith’s life into a nightmare for a few days, causing the halberdier to lash out in anger toward anyone unfortunate enough to get in his way. His marriage was hurt, his friendships suffered and even the halberdier himself had to trudge through his own personal hell created by Jebb just to reclaim the family that was rightfully his. If that wasn’t enough, Rorton had emptied three rounds into the noble, one in the thigh and two in his right shoulder which practically shattered it in the process. The fact that Zerith managed to make a recovery at all was only due to the Ai’Bron monks’ healing abilities and the medical skills of Aislinn and her staff.

Despite the seriousness of his injuries, Sei Orlouge still needed his general to be able to function at the best of his abilities. So ever since the incident, the warder had been on a medical leave. While he was supposed to focus getting reacquainted to using his shoulder, Zerith seized the opportunity to reconnect with his wife and friends. For those that really knew him, they must have been able to see he wasn’t enjoying the concept of having Jasmine feed his meals to him while he laid in the infirmary. Yet the fact that she never left him when he found himself depending on her more than ever only increased his appreciation for the woman. Two months of quality time with Jasmine and Siela was a blessing, and something that Zerith really needed. So in a weird way, he was thankful for what Rorton did to him.

“I see,” Sei replied solemnly. “I also trust that you’ve managed to accept your new...gift?”

“I would hardly call it a gift, Sei!” Zerith shot back almost immediately. “But to answer the real question, no, I haven’t torn anyone limb from limb. I’m saving that for Jebb and Rorton.”

There was no hiding that fact that while Jebb and Rorton may have achieved something they thought was good, neither one of them could have possibily expected what happened at the end of their encounter with the halberdier. If they had broken the warder down to the point where something triggered, or if Zerith’s plea for help to Draconus was actually answered by the Ancient Thayne was up for debate, but there was no denying that whatever happened to the prince was real. Somehow he had changed into something not human, but more animalistic and vicious at the end. While his mind had conveniently blacked out any recollection of the event, word quickly spread throughout Ixian Castle that eyewitness reports by some including Jasmine stated that the noble turned into something resembling a large Draconian before chasing Jebb into the dark corridors of the Citadel that night. Given the evidence, everyone assumed it was true, including Zerith. So while most people in the castle were quickly gossiping how the general in charge of the Knight’s public image was a loose cannon, Zerith was questioning his humanity. Regardless of what really happened that night, a small part of the prince died, resulting in the rise of something more primal that clawed at its walls deep inside him

A disappointed sigh escaped Mystic before his spoke, “I suppose that I can’t always expect you be more optimistic, especially after what you’ve had to deal with recently. But let’s just move on to the present, there’s something I would like you to deal with.” Whatever Sei had been so intent on reading was slowly picked up by the telepath and handed out for the halberdier to take. “Apparently, not everyone thinks we’re the good guys,” he added as he offered the single sheet of parchment out to his friend.

Although he was a little hesitant to take the letter at first, Zerith eventually pulled the item out from the mute’s fingertips and began to read. “Who’s this Lorenor?” he asked as he read, his eyes widened as he read another line. “He’s declaring war on us!?”

“Lorenor V’halkulus is an old acquaintance of mine who accompanied me when I encountered N’jal, just like you did with Draconus. Apparently he’s her High Priest.”

“Then why should I bother with him?” the warder immediately interjected. “I want nothing to do with anything involving N’jal. She’s not worthy of being considered a Thanye.”

“There’s your answer right there, Zerith,” Sei chuckled. “Out of all the Nine, you’re one of the more zealous of the lot. You strongly believe in Draconus, and I think that’s what will give you an advantage here. Lorenor is deadly and I’m sure you will never meet anyone like him, but I’m also sure he’s never met anyone like you. Besides, aren't you the one in charge of creating our public image?”

“But it says here he wants a fight to the death!” Zerith cried, pointing to the scribbling on the paper. “You want me to just kill him and be done with it?”

“Why not look at it as that at least you’ll have some practice before you meet Jebb and Rorton again?” the mystic suggested. The words made wheels turn in Zerith’s mind, causing him to take a few moments to consider his options and Dragon of Drantak’s reasoning behind his choice of representative for the Ixian Knight. The mute did make a good point, what better choice of general than the one who’s supposed to be the guy that deals with these matters. Of course, there was also the thought that he could see how his shoulder was feeling before he could encounter those two bastards a second time...

“Alright, I’ll take care of it.” Zerith finally replied before he turned around and made his way to the door. “I’ll just grab my things and I’ll be right on my way to the Citadel.”

“Excellent. Just be careful, Zerith. Lorenor isn’t as blunt of an instrument like Andy Rortan may be.”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

(Notice: I am continuing this battle with my new Level 0 profile, thank you very much)

When Lorenor approached the chamber, he was not certain what to expect. He had openly declared war on The Ixian Knights. Most importantly, he had declared war on Sei Orlouge. Sei Orlouge had once found himself as a temporary ally to the cause of N'Jal. However, Sei also served the rest of the Thayne body, which made him an enemy to Lorenor. For just the smallest of moments, Lorenor doubted his skill. He knew that he was a formidable opponent in The Citadel Leagues, but this was different. This is a direct order of N'Jal. And her word is law. She has decreed that The Ixian Knights must be stopped. Lorenor readied his weapon, The Blade of N'Jal as he entered the combat arena. Then, the monk's worked their sorcery upon the combat chamber.

***

When reality was done shifting, Lorenor looked upon the parallel dimension he found himself in. In a dedicated chamber, the statues of The Thayne surrounded him and stared at him in an accusing fashion. Lorenor looked about and saw hundreds of statues in the same room. Representatives of the higher arcana, and lower arcana of The Thayne Codex were present. Lorenor immediately recognized the greater Thayne. Some of the lesser Thayne he knew as well. However, one fact remained: They are the children of The All-Thayne. As such, they are my enemy. Lorenor tried to organize his thoughts and prepare for the battle ahead. However, as his senses peaked, he suddenly realized that there were thousands of statues surrounding him...

Then, a solitary presence filled the room. Lorenor saw a powerful crystal in the central most point of the chamber. This crystal glowed with a tremendous power and was shaped as a large piece of pure quartz. Lorenor decided that crystal would become his vantage point in the battle ahead. He had no idea what kind of a man Zerith was. As he walked towards the powerfully glowing crystal, and a primal voice called out to the mutant. Ye childe of N'Jal. The dark lady. Ye must knoweth who I am. With anger in his heart, Lorenor knew who was speaking to him. This was an altar dedicated to The All-Thayne. Lorenor saw the crystal pulsing as it spoke, communing directly to his ancient mind. Lorenor felt tiny against the form of his enemy.

Though ye are The Paradox, a general who follows my children shall meet thee in battle. Ye shall fall tonight, Lorenor of N'Jal. The All-Thayne continued. I did not fall when my children came from my body. Instead, I merely cast myself into a state of torpor. Lorenor frowned at that, The Thayne Codex was wrong. Whelp of N'Jal. Here ye shall learn the true nature of Thayne!

Suddenly, the air began to shake with power. Eyes of a multitude of colours, of varying degrees of configurations, began to stare from the dark. Lorenor could feel millions of pairs of eyes studying him in utter judgment. However, Lorenor also knew that the Thayne could not directly interfere with the world of men. Lorenor was a part of that world, however much of a monster was he. The mutant moved into a combat position as he prepared to face against The Thayne not realizing what had happened. During the events of a previous battle, he had encountered the man named Nenkulor Shima. A prophet of the apocalypse.

The Thayne had stripped Lorenor of all his vast power and restarted him when he had faced death at the hands of Marcus Book. Lorenor had not realized that much until just then. They have screwed me over one last time. As Lorenor continued to walk, in fighting stance, towards the crystal, the presence became more powerful. It was indeed The All-Thayne. Lorenor dared not question the presence of an enemy. Lorenor stared at the crystal, questions burning in his mind. He wondered if the crystal could be taken, powers harvested. Somehow, he doubted that. Then, he turned away from the crystal, still in combat stance, and prepared to face Zerith.

General of the Ixian Knights.