The flashes of memories faded once more…..
By now, Mike had begun to recover his sense of irritability. It was not a pleasant experience though. The itch that accompanied the reconstruction of his body was, to say the least, horrifying. He did not see his body being reconstructed, he felt it. He felt every area of his skin, marrow, tendons, muscles and organs that was being rebuilt from the terrifying itch that announced the process to his sense of irritability so vividly that it threatened to drive him beyond the edges of sanity.
But his saving grace came.
He experienced reprieve when the flashes of memories returned, yanking his mind from what was happening to his body as he experienced the memories flashing through his mind on a first hand basis.
In the first string of memories that flashed through his mind:
The red evening sky hung ominously above her spotting an unnaturally deeper hue. Behind her stood an army that was slowly being worn out from fighting a war that was proving unwinnable day by day, battle by battle. Every time the tides of battle swung in favor of them, then Darian the Skull crusher, whose skin could not be pierced by weapons of any sort, would take to the battlefield reversing the tide.
Opposite her, a long way across, on the other side of the battlefield, stood another army whose high morale was almost visible and tangible. At the head of this army was her opponent, Darian the skull crusher. As the giant of a man he was, Darian the skull crusher boasted of a height of ten feet when standing. His muscles rippled like steel cables under the veil of his brown skin which, as the legends says, could not be penetrated by weapons. He wore a necklace made from the shattered skulls of kings and champions he had previously vanquished. His weapon, a war hammer – war axe hybrid, was flung lazily across his shoulders as he stood on the battlefield bare chested, as though defying her and the army she represented with the silent question 'don't you or your army have a weapon that can at least leave a scratch on my skin?'
She herself and the whole of the kingdom she represented had heard of the infamy of Darian the skull crusher, but since his reach had not extended to the kingdom where she lived as at the time, they had done little in the way of preparing adequate counter measures against him, his army and his powers when could have done so. So when Darian set his sight on this tiny kingdom, it had little choice and could only turn to the representatives of the Order for help in exchange for a favor which the Order owed them once upon a time. Thus, being known for her studies on the subject of countering mystical and other related powers, she was summoned to helm the task. She had no choice but to bring back victory as the honor of the Order was at stake since it had stepped into the battle to repay a favor owed. Fortunately, she had properly done her homework.
Many nations, kingdoms and champions had fallen before the terror that was Darian, with the skull of every foe of relative importance which he vanquished ending up as an accessory on his necklace. Many champions had repeatedly tried to take him down, only to fail as no weapon could penetrate his skin. Thus, many superstitions had been born which revolved around his uncanny ability. Some believed him to be the reincarnation of an ancient god of war; others believed him to be the bastard son of a pinnacle existence and thus were given a pinnacle level treasure that could deny the authority of weapons and death over his mortal flesh as a hush gift. Some among the more knowledgeable circles claimed that he was one of the elite group of people who were lucky enough to be blessed with the gift of mystical powers, with his being invulnerability.
But she herself knew better. None of those rumors were in any way true. As a member of the Order of the Mystical Alchemists – a cadre of alchemists who specialized on the not- so- natural aspects of alchemy - she had had opportunities to encounter things and people that she would have not if she had not been a member of the organization and thus, she was learned enough to know what Darian was . As a result, she knew that Darian was not one of the awakened, neither was his ability a derivate of a treasure given as a hush gift. Instead, his ability was as a result of him accomplishing what only a very few people had ever accomplish and could ever accomplish even among the high council of a clandestine cult like the Order of the Mystical Alchemists; He had become an Authority.