Night enveloped Cogspark Mansion like a blanket of deliberate silence. The defensive runes carved into the black stone walls glowed with a violet glow, illuminating the shadows of the patrolling guards. Meanwhile, Tomas hid behind the shadows cast by the night, which stood out against the light of a full moon.
In the darkness of the night, Tomas waits for the perfect moment to launch his attack, while the moonlight creates a small glow as it reflects against his Cryotum dagger, while a cold, penetrating air emanates from his hands. Tomas waits for the perfect moment to carry out his plan, meanwhile, back at the mansion, Darius has an ominous feeling.
Thomas (quietly, to himself):
—Violet runes... and a large formation surrounding the place... Just like the Grid said, there must be a core to all of this. —
Tomas's eyes begin to twitch as he notices the change of guards.
He approaches silently until he reaches the mansion using the cold emanating from his dagger, wrapping his body in a light energy field which hid his heat, showing him as if he were a corpse, to which the runes do not react.
—Smooth movements... slow breathing. Dodging a torch that briefly illuminates his face.
—Not a sound. Not a sigh. That's how you survive.
Meanwhile, Tomas does not neglect his surroundings and thinks to himself.
—Fifteen minutes of patrol, this will be enough time to cut Darius's throat. —
His fingers caress the edge of the dagger, emitting a cold vapor.
But when he gets close to the stairs to reach the second level where Darius is, he is surprised by the powerful attack of Thargan Duskbreaker, a half-ogre who is a mercenary who is positioned in the Iron Glove range of the Iron Legion mercenaries.
Thargan (Surprised):
— Incredible! And to think that you not only noticed my attack, but also managed to defend against it. —
After seeing how Tomas gets up after having received his attack, he is a little upset.
— It seems that even the rats of the Blood Moon have the fangs to defend themselves from me. —
Tomas dodges all the obstacles in his path and uses his great speed to his advantage to position himself on Thargan's back.
Tomas (Thinking):
— This is over. —
At the moment in which Tomas connected his attack Thargan reacted with unreal speed defending himself, blocking the attack with his armor made of an alloy of iron and carbon which due to its dark tone was called the Iron of the Night a metal that, although it is not at the same level as Cryotum, it had a great defense and was light for the user.
The clash between Cryotum's dagger and Obdurium's armor resounded like an ominous bell. The air instantly filled with frost, enveloping part of the armor that impacted the dagger, crystallizing the sweat on Thargan's face.
Thargan (Growling, his armor creaking in the extreme cold):
—A little ice knife! Do you really think that's enough to...? —
He didn't finish the sentence. Cryotum's dagger, although it didn't pierce the metal, managed to create cracks, causing frost to form at the impact zone. Thargan, understanding his situation, discards the damaged portion of his armor and surrounds the affected area with his Rei's aura to lessen the damage. On the torn-off portion of the armor, the frost spreads rapidly, becoming covered in a thin layer of bluish ice, before beginning to crack, flying into thousands of pieces as if it were snowing.
Tomas (Whispering):
—Armors are like their owners... rigid until they break. With a quick turn, Tomas launched a hook to Thargan's left side, who could not react in time due to the aftermath of the first attack, receiving a full blow from Tomas, Thargan is thrown towards the walls due to the impact and as he moves away the traps imposed by the runes that are throughout the mansion are activated generating a variety of attacks from the ceiling to the ground from which a large number of stone golems emerge that although they are small they were very strong, so Tomas continued cutting them with his dagger without stopping, while he looked for an exit since he knew that from all the noise that was made more guards would come or even the Sunsword of the Order of the Radiant Dawn would come. But to his surprise he saw Thargan approaching again, Tomas could not believe it because he felt with that blow how he broke several ribs and although he was aware that an attack like that would not kill him, he thought that at least it would leave him unconscious
Thargan (Laughing breathlessly):
—Nice shot, rat! But you're forgetting one thing... —
Suddenly, Tomas watched as Thargan shed his armor, revealing a Clan Kar'Vash medallion hanging around his neck. (An Ogre clan that serves as the guild of one of the five great clans, the Skjaldmor Clan.) It began to glow a deep reddish hue as the medallion was seen burrowing into Thargan's body. Thargan's veins bulged and his body swelled with a dark rage, as if the Clan Kar'Vash medallion had awakened an inner beast. With a roar that echoed through the halls of the mansion.
—The clans will not fall to a Blood Moon dog! I will turn you to ash! —
Thargan exclaims as he advances towards Tomas.
His fists slammed into the ground, cracking the flagstones and unleashing waves of dark fire. Tomas leaped back, avoiding the flames that charred the stone golems. The ice on his dagger evaporated upon contact with the heat, but not entirely: the Cryotum held firm, glowing a frigid blue.
Tomas remained on guard as he held his cryotum dagger forward ready to attack.
Darius Cogspark's mansion throbbed under the clash of two opposing forces: the dark fire of Thargan, fueled by the corruption of Clan Kar'Vash, and the icy aura of the Cryotum in Tomas's hands. The violet runes on the walls flickered, as if the building itself were dying from the struggle.
Tomas (Thinking, as he steps back):
—The medallion... That thing feeds him. If I destroy it, I'll weaken him. But how do I get close? —
Thargan lashed out again, his movements brutal but predictable. Tomas noticed that the ogre, in his fury, stepped on a defensive rune on the ground. The violet symbol activated, unleashing a bolt of energy that Thargan deflected with his arm, searing his skin.
—His attack pattern became simpler. —
Tomas continues to avoid attacks to check if what he plans to do will be the right thing.
— Although his power and speed have increased, it seems to be too much for him to control. —
Tomas keeps his cryotum dagger and with a silver dagger that he had hidden he begins to cause slight cuts around Thargan's body while avoiding him
Thargan (Bleeding, but laughing):
"Pathetic!" To think that, even seeing this form, you'd switch to a weaker weapon. But as he continued to take Tomas's slashes without landing a hit, his anger grew.
— Damn it! You haven't even broken a limit, don't underestimate me and use everything you've got to fight head on. —
The mention of "limits" resonated with Tomas. He remembered Lyrion's words: "Only those who break limits survive." He concentrated much of his Rei on his dagger, which, in accordance with Thargan's words, he used in a head-on strike.
Attack which is blocked with one of Thargan's arms.
— Hahaha... That was your last chance. —
Thargan prepares to attack Tomas, whose weapon is stuck in his arm. But his body doesn't react as he expects, falling to his knees as Tomas takes a few steps back, retrieving his Cryotum dagger.
Thargan doesn't understand the situation he is in until the flames that were burning in his body begin to diminish as he begins to feel cold, Thargan thought it was because Tomas took out his Cryotum dagger again, but he realizes it wasn't because of that, his wounds, although minor were numerous and even though they were shallow the blood that flowed from them was abnormal.
It was then that Thargan understood why he was lying on his knees before Tomas, anger blinded him and he used a resource for which his body was not yet ready, the blood flowed out because his body forced a greater blood flow and although this gave him great power and speed this also made him very vulnerable.
Tomas slowly approaches Thargan as he focuses his Rei on the dagger, as he focuses his Rei on the dagger. The edge was coated in black ice, so cold that the air itself crackled as it broke.
The black ice on Tomas's dagger emanated a chill that froze the very air, crystallizing every drop of moisture into deadly frost. Thargan, kneeling and panting, tried to raise an arm to defend himself, but his muscles, exhausted by the medallion's corruption, barely responded. Dark blood flowed from his wounds, freezing on contact with the Cryotum.
—You... don't understand anything! The clans... no longer serve mortals. True power comes from the shadows you fear to name! —
The Clan Kar'Vash medallion on his chest pulsed with a sinister red glow, like a demonic heart. Tomas, his eyes as cold as the ice of his dagger, plunged the blade into the center of the medallion. The cursed metal creaked, resisting, but the Cryotum coated it with a layer of black frost.
Tomás (In a cold whisper):
—Shadows only win if you scare them.
With a loud crash, the medallion shattered into a thousand frozen shards. An unearthly shriek echoed through the mansion, and Thargan collapsed, his body reduced to a shell consumed by corruption.
The destruction of the medallion destabilized the mansion's violet runes. And Tomas, though tired, uses a large amount of Rei on his dagger, expanding the cold air it emitted to stop the runes. Wearily, he hides on his way back toward the stairs that would lead him to his objective. As he advances, he silently eliminates as many guards and minor knights as he can.
But when he reached the stairs the runes activated again, Tomas was surprised that the layer of cold aura that covered him was no longer effective in deceiving the runes.
— Maybe I'm more tired than I thought... Why isn't my dagger's aura working? —
The symbols glowed with frenzied intensity before exploding, collapsing part of the roof. From the rubble, a golden figure emerged: Gavriel Thandros, Sunsword of the Radiant Dawn, wielding his Emberium blade.
Gavriel (In a resonant voice):
—Profane! The light of Dawn will not allow you to defile this fortress. —
Tomas, exhausted but alert, jumped back immediately upon seeing the silhouette of the knight wielding a sword engulfed in flames.
Tomas (Thinking):
— That sword... That must be Gavriel. —
As Tomas steps back, Gavriel extends his Rei aura, enveloping him in flames that resembled gold, oppressing Tomas's cold aura. This was due to the difference in levels between the two, since although they both had weapons that were equally matched, both being made of the rarest and most difficult metals to manipulate in Ethalios. The level of the user's Rei was the determining factor.
Gavriel (Arrogantly):
—Do you think your ice will be enough against the fire of the chosen? The clans and the Dawn will purge your darkness!
Thomas (Quick Thinking):
— The difference between our energies is very large... then...—
Tomas threw his dagger at an unbroken rune on the floor. The Cryotum froze the symbol, and Gavriel, stepping on it, was trapped in a burst of ice. The Emberium sword sizzled, the flames flickering between cold and hot.
The steam generated by the energy coke hid Tomas, who in turn also hid his Rei to a minimum to go unnoticed from the detection that Gavriel could make, however, after using that large amount of energy Tomas was exhausted so he first planned to use one of the rooms to hide while he recovers some energy and recovers from his injuries.
Tomas manages to access a hidden room while crashing through the hallways due to exhaustion.
Tired, he falls to the ground and controls his breathing for a quick recovery before Gavriel finds him.
After a few minutes Tomas has recovered enough strength to continue with his mission, but he also begins to investigate the books that are in that room, there he notices some files and a book with a golden cover which had in its center the world tree Eryndor which is the nucleus of Ethalios and is located on the Eldarya continent, a continent inhabited mainly by: Elves, Fairies, Ents, Elemental Spirits, etc...
Upon opening that book, he discovers information about the five great clans which, after the great holy war between the demons, angels and the original races of Ethalios, became the guardians of the seals that delimited the territories of the world which were divided among those three sides as a peace pact which was supervised by the dragons.
He also saw the files next to the book which contained information about the Order of the Radiant Dawn, this surprised Tomas because even if it was necessary to know about its guardians, investigating them so thoroughly was unusual.
It is there that Darius slowly approaches Tomas, taking him by surprise.
Darius (In a soft voice):
— Was it an interesting read? —
Tomas (Surprised, thinks):
—How come I didn't notice it?—
Darius:
— It seems that your target was me, ah... Who would have thought that the little boy who was being dragged by those murderers would now be after my life.
Tomas:
—How do you know me?
Darius (Calm):
— That's because I, like you, am from Karthun, but I left that town when I was very young with my family and returned when I became an adult with the hope of changing the place for the better by promoting the development of that town as well as expanding my vision as a merchant, but what surprised me about that place is that after hearing a great commotion, I saw two hooded men dragging a child and that nobody did anything to stop such a scene. —
Tomas simply remains silent as he listens to the words of Darius the Gnome Merchant.
— It was your eyes that still held a flame of resistance to your destiny that inspired me to stay on my path, but who would have imagined that the eyes that once captivated me now had me as their target. —
Tomas (Watching Darius):
— It was a good conversation, merchant, but everyone went their own way and mine is currently following the order to bring your head. —
Darius (Quietly):
- That's true. -
Meanwhile Darius takes out of his coat a book with a green cover with red spots and the image of a dragon in the center.
—You don't get to my position by being careless. Especially when the stakes are high.
Tomas frowns at the book's cover, noticing the image of a dragon and the red stains that look like dried blood. The glow of the violet runes, unstable after the fight with Thargan, illuminates Darius's eyes with a somber glow.
Tomas (Serious, with the dagger in hand):
—That book... doesn't look like something a simple merchant should have. —
Darius (With deceptive calm):
"My ambitions have led me to many doors, boy. Some more dangerous than others. And the Order of the Radiant Dawn… It is not as pure as everyone thinks." The book in Darius's hands creaks open, and faint magical currents emerge from its pages, snaking through the air like ribbons of emerald smoke. At that moment, a crash echoes through the corridor: Gavriel Thandros, the Sunsword, appears from behind the partial collapse of the ceiling. His eyes bore into Darius with a mixture of surprise and fury.
At that moment, a crash is heard behind Tomas. The ceiling cracks, admitting Gavriel Thandros, the Sunsword, his Emberium sword crackling with golden flames. The knight stares at the scene in bewilderment: the gnome with a forbidden book, Tomas with his Cryotum dagger on guard. A tense air hangs over everything.
Gavriel (Looking first at Darius, then at Tomas):
—What kind of game is this? Darius, remove the murderer from your mansion and let me purge him in the name of the Dawn! —
Darius (With a sharp look at Gavriel):
"The Dawn? The one who takes hostages to enforce their 'justice'? You, champions of the Dawn, took my daughter to force me to finance your 'grand' plans of purge and conquest. I gave you my gold. You withheld my blood." Spitting disdainfully.
— They are no better than the Blood Moon. —
Tomas (Thinking):
"Hostages...? What do you mean? The Order of the Dawn kidnapping someone to force Darius's support? That explains his nervousness and why he's funding his supposed protectors."
Gavriel's sword ignites with a deeper golden glow.
Gabriel (Severely Annoyed):
—Shut up, wretch. The Order of the Radiant Dawn must carry out its justice, and if you...—
Darius (Raising his voice, interrupting him):
—Justice! Do you call it justice when you steal the only thing I care about so you can use my riches? —
He turns to Tomas with a glint in his eyes.
—I'm no saint, Tomas. But I'm not the monster you make me out to be, either. So... if the Order of the Radiant Dawn wants my life, you two will have it too. I'd rather go down with this mansion than serve you any longer!
"Now, boy, watch this paladin fall to pieces. Your mission to kill me will be for nothing when he perishes—and everyone believes it was you." With a swift motion, Darius utters a spell from the book. A surge of energy crackles around him, feeding on his own life force. His eyes glow red, and his veins bulge with a crimson glow. The floor trembles; the nearest rune explodes, unleashing emerald fire that crackles across the room.
Gavriel (Steps back, disbelieving the situation he finds himself in):
—What are you trying to do...? —
Tomas (Surprised):
—What... the hell are you doing?... That power... you won't survive that. —
The energy emanating from Darius forms a whirlwind around him, tearing at the walls and tearing off chunks of the ceiling. In an instant, with the strength the spell grants him, Darius points his hand at Gavriel and Tomas. A trembling smile spreads across his face: ten seconds, unimaginable power.
Darius (In a voice filled with fury and despair):
—Ten seconds... ten seconds of absolute power at the cost of my life. Enough to take Gavriel's head off, and yours if you get in the way.
Emerald fire condenses in his palm. Gavriel, furious, grips the hilt of his sword wrapped in golden flames, preparing for an inevitable clash. Tomas, his heart pounding, holds his Cryotum dagger, weighing whether to attack Darius directly or let Gavriel become his distraction.
Gavriel (Tense, looking at Tomas and then at Darius):
—The Dawn will not tolerate this sacrilege, Darius. Your betrayal will be paid for in blood.
Meanwhile, the mansion's floor rumbles; the foundations collapse, and what was once an imposing mansion is now nothing more than rubble, burning in the face of the energy emanating from Darius.
Tomas, Cryotum's dagger in hand, struggles between attacking Darius in his fragile moment of conjuration or confronting Gavriel, whose fiery fervor could also be lethal.
Tomas (Thinking urgently):
—If I don't stop Darius, he'll blow up the whole place... and with it, my mission, my life, and the chance of that daughter of yours being rescued. —
Observe the chaos of the corridor, the uncontrolled magic, and feel the rumble of the mansion.
—I need to end this quickly. My target is still Darius. And if the Sunsword dies in the process, it'll be collateral damage.
Darius quickly throws several arcane runes which surround Tomas and Gavriel and in turn impact the ground, this leaves a large crater which begins to resonate in the middle of the night.
Gavriel (Thinking and attentive):
—The power he possesses is incredible, not only overwhelming that murderous scum, but even I find it difficult to stand up under that pressure, his power far exceeds breaking a first limit.—
Gavriel remembers Darius's words which mentioned only ten seconds.
— That's it! Ten seconds is all I have to endure. —
Darius (Exhaling a heavy breath, each second of the spell costs him his life):
—Damn it... if it weren't for the Order of the Radiant Dawn, I would never have agreed to any of this! —
His eyes fix on Gavriel.
— And you... if you had given me back my daughter, we wouldn't have to come to this. —
Gavriel (Biting his lips in anger):
—I'm not interested in your excuses, merchant. You'll pay for your audacity in blood! —
Gavriel holds his solar sword and places it in front of him and concentrates his Rei to the maximum, amplifying the power of his sword, acting as a shield trying to withstand the incessant attacks with which Darius attacks.
Only five seconds have passed and Darius's incessant attack begins to become less constant, in turn Gavriel is extremely damaged as he tries to make a desperate resistance, meanwhile Tomas took his distance as quickly as he could after Darius created the crater in which Gavriel is located, because in that combat they did not pay enough attention to him, even so he did not emerge unscathed from the attack having a wound in his abdomen bleeding out using his Rei to control the wound as best he can.
Tomas assessed the situation, but even with the distance he took, the pressure Darius exerted was overwhelming and the heat emanating from Gavriel's sun sword remained constant.
Gavriel (Tired and hurt):
— Looks like you've already given it your all, right miserable gnome, it seems like you didn't even last the ten seconds you said you would. —
Gavriel gathers momentum and approaches quickly.
Gavriel (Thinking):
— He is still useful to us, if I detain him and take the book away from him we can still use him and that dangerous book. —
Darius begins to launch attacks in an omnidirectional are which are skillfully avoided by Gavriel because as the seconds pass the speed of his attacks also slow down, or at least that was what he believed. Since as soon as Gavriel entered the range of three meters that surrounded Darius, a rune was activated which expelled a pillar of fire with an abrasive heat, causing him to suffer burns even though he had a weapon made of Emberium in his hands, although the weapon was not damaged his armor was crushed and his body was covered in burns.
Even so, Gavriel, blinded by rage, lunged at Darius again. Darius, defending himself, manages to tear off Gavriel's arm, finally collapsing. Just as he was about to close the book, Tomas quickly appears behind him, pointing his Cryotum dagger at his exposed neck.
Darius (Tired, smiling):
—Hahaha... How could I have forgotten about you? —
Tomas (Exhausted, asks):
—Any last words? —
Darius (Looking up at the sky):
—Just the request of a dying old man. —
Tomas nods, confirming the fact that he will carry out her request.
— My daughter... I want her to be free... —
Tomas (Whispering in his ear):
— Don't worry, old man, consider that my payment for eliminating the scum lying on the ground. —
Darius gives one last smile as he recalls the simpler times he spent with his daughter, the last memory before permanently closing his eyes being the moment of her birth.
Darius: Last thought
— Oh... my little Lyra, I would have liked to see you arrive at the altar, now I can only watch you from heaven next to your mother. —
With his final thought concluded Darius breathes his last.
Tomas takes the book that Darius was holding and keeps it hidden in his clothes, then, even though he is wounded, he lifts Darius's body and places it on the ruins of his mansion, which he sets on fire.
As the flames consume the rubble of Cogspark Mansion, an ominous silence falls over the night. Darius's body writhes in the fire, a final farewell Tomas has decided to offer him as a sign of respect and closure. The heat of the bonfire briefly illuminates Tomas's weary gaze, whose wounds burn almost as hot as the embers of the makeshift pyre.
Tomas (Thinking):
— I didn't expect this job to turn into such a living hell... But at least I accomplished the mission. Darius... I hope he didn't die in vain. If his daughter is still alive, I owe him that. At the very least, it's the only way to honor his last request.
The air is thick with the acrid smell of burnt stone and ash. Tomas turns, aware that Gavriel, the Sunsword, could regain consciousness at any moment. In the distance, the walls of the ruined mansion creak and collapse, heralding the end of an empire built on gold, lies, and hostages.
Tomas (Frowning, looking at the ruins):
— There's no time for a battle with that fanatic. With my current strength, facing him alone would be foolish. —
Holding his side, where blood oozes from a deep wound, he hurries away along a path that winds through the rocks. His steps become clumsier as the pain intensifies. The chirping of crickets and the icy night wind mix with the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. As he ascends, the full moon casts Tomas's silhouette against the slopes, creating a contrast between the silver light and the shadows of the night. Each breath becomes an agonized whisper, but his determination drives him on. In the distance, a cluster of flames flares at the entrance to the mansion—perhaps guards rushing to investigate the devastation.
Tomas (While panting):
— I have to... get... to some shelter. I can't take it anymore. —
His mind fixes on the name he read in Darius's papers: Lyra. A strange mix of guilt and determination washes over him: now he has a new debt to settle. However, he knows he must first survive this night.
After wandering aimlessly, he notices a faint rock arch outlined in the moonlight. Tomas, almost crawling, enters the cave, feeling the coolness of the stone against his forehead as he leans against the wall. The interior is narrow, but offers a welcome respite from the elements. He collapses onto the dusty floor, his vision blurred by fatigue and blood loss.
Tomas (Crawling on the walls):
— Damn runes... damn clans... I just... need... to rest. —
The night drags on, and the darkness thickens. The wind blows at the entrance to the cavern, whistling a melancholic melody. Tomas stares into space, fleetingly recalling Darius's gaze and the image of a crimson medallion burning on Thargan's chest.
Tomas (In his thoughts):
— This world... still hides too much... in the darkness... —
His eyelids feel tired and close, and for a moment, the world disappears. A tingling in his injured arm momentarily awakens him. His breathing is shallow, his pulse weak.
Just as drowsiness pushes him to the brink of unconsciousness, he hears something. A soft voice, as faint as the breeze caressing the leaves of a tree. A voice that somehow transmits a warmth that his body, frozen by the Cryotum and spilled blood, cannot produce.
Female Voice (A graceful whisper):
—Is anyone there...? Do you need help? —
Hearing no response, the young maiden approaches and manages to make out a silhouette against the light. Although she can't make out its features, its presence radiates a calmness that disarms any instinct of aggression in him.
Tomas (In his thoughts with his eyes closed):
- Who...? -
The figure kneels beside him, and Tomas feels a light touch of cold but gentle hands on his forehead. A tingle of energy, light and comforting, runs through his skin.
Female Voice:
—Calm down... Don't talk. Let me see your wounds. —
In the dimness, Tomas glimpses an emerald glow in the young woman's eyes, and a soft herbal scent that reminds him of a home he never knew. The heaviness in his eyelids increases, and fatigue drags him into an involuntary sleep.
The young woman holds his head, gently adjusting him. Outside, the full moon slowly sets, and with it, the night seems to give way to the promise of a new day. Tomas falls into a deep sleep as the sound of the maiden's voice gently watches over him, which, unbeknownst to him, would become the light that would change his destiny.
Meanwhile, in the distance where Darius's mansion once stood, Gavriel's sunsword begins to be recovered with the help of the surviving guards and his commanding knights. A new horizon opens for Tomas: one that blends revenge, redemption, and a glimmer of hope he never thought possible.