The Aftermath Of Mount Woe
Hell Battle 1: Dalton Vs. Greven
By Nanaki
12,002 B.C.
Greven had to try hard to avoid shouting in surprise when the roof of the tower appeared a good distance below him. He couldn't help grunting as the impact of connecting with the roof knocked the wind out of him. As he tried to slow his roll toward the edge, tiles flew where his fingers dug them up. He finally got a good hold just as most of him went over the edge, and he was slammed forcefully against the wall. He scaled down the wall until he was just outside Schala's window. He had thought about complaining, but somehow her darkened room seemed more inviting than the rest of the palace, which maintained a low glow at night. 'I'm here.' He thought softly into the warm darkness.
'I'm waiting...'
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Out on the roof, Dalton grinned. His bug was working perfectly. Oh, what foolish, foolish prey he had. It was a good thing he had put a physical and telepathic damping field on Schala's room, or they would have given themselves away long since. Of course he hadn't really expected his trick with the Blackbird to work. That would have been disappointing. But now, the time was almost right. Just a little longer...
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Ertai grimaced from his perch on the opposite tower. He could see that Dalton was on the roof of the tower, right above Schala's room. He couldn't really see what Dalton was doing, but it couldn't be good. He didn't know why Schala had asked Greven to come to the Zeal Palace in the middle of the night either, but they must be doing something important. He had to warn Greven. He reached out with telepathic contact and - whoah! He wasn't touching either of those minds again as long as this went on. Frustrated, he pulled a small spyglass out of his backpack, trying to get a closer look at Dalton.
A big grin was on the fiendish mage's face. "Gross! He's getting off on it!" Ertai said out loud, in disgust. But then, Dalton stood and walked back around the roof. He made an odd gesture, and a small beam of energy drifted lazily down into the palace. Then a bubble of yellow energy formed around him, exploding outward. Ertai felt himself growing sleepy, and had just enough time to secure himself to the side of the tower before he nodded off.
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Schala lay back on her pillow, breathing contentedly. "I think I'm finally getting tired."
"Me too." Greven said, frowning. "And that's not normal."
"No, I suppose not. But its fine." Suddenly, a telepathic cry filled her head.
'Schala! Something's wrong!'
'Janus? What's the matter?'
'Well, a few minutes ago, your head was filled with stuff I don't understand at all.'
Uh oh. She was glad he hadn't understood. 'Never mind that now. What's the trouble?'
'I had a terrible dream. But from what you described, it might be a premonition.'
'Hold on, I'll be right there.' She turned to Greven. "Janus is having bad visions. I need to go talk to him."
"Go ahead. I'll just hang out here."
Schala paused halfway out of the covers. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather just go back to Enhasa now?"
"I'll be fine. Go." Schala didn't put up any further resistance. She threw on a night gown and was out the door. Greven sighed. He sometimes wished Schala and Janus weren't so close. But then, for all intents and purpose, Schala was a mother to Janus, as Zeal certainly wasn't. If he needed her, Greven shouldn't feel any resentment. After all, he had her in a way that no one ever had before.
A cold wind was blowing in the window. He got up to close it, but changed his mind when he got there. Tasting the wind, he grimaced. 'Something isn't right.' He thought to himself. 'I should leave.' Leave? Was he crazy? He was much safer in here than anywhere else in the Zeal Palace. But his intuition had never failed him before. He quickly put his clothes on, hesitated for a second, and then buckled up his armor. 'Am I insane?' He asked himself as he opened the door, but he ventured into the darkness anyway.
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"Its time." Dalton's grin threatened to break his face. He walked back along the roof, pausing just over Schala's bedroom window. He quietly leaned over the edge. He wanted one last look at the happy couple before he destroyed them utterly. Peering through the top of the window upside down, he was immensely surprised to find neither one there. "What the? Where the hell are they? They had nowhere to go!"
"Oh yes we did!" Before Dalton could move, he felt himself flying forward, landing almost face first on the hard floor of the room. Turning to face his assailant, he saw none other then Greven Vecar stading by the window, decked out in full battle gear.
"How did you know I was there?"
"I didn't. It was luck, pure and simple."
"Well your luck has finally run out!" Dalton charged at Greven angrily. Greven sidestepped his clumsy blow, grabbed his arm, and twisting around on his heel, threw Dalton out the window. The wizard was smashed into the wall of the tower below, and Greven promptly let him fall. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. A second later, Dalton came flying back into the room. Greven backed away as far as he could in the close quarters. Dalton cast a small fire spell, and Greven ducked to the floor as the blast roared over his head. He quickly jumped up as jagged icicles tore through the floor, sending stone flying in all directions. A lightning bolt blazed past his head, coming close enough to make his hair stand on end.
"So that's the way its going to be huh? Let's see how you like the feel of holy!" Greven unleashed five small streams of energy from each hand. They spun in all directions, first shattering the ice, then centering and coursing through Dalton's body. Dalton grunted, then unleashed a small Shadow explosion that sent Greven flying into the wall. Dusting himself off, Greven quickly stood up, and a jagged looking holy explosion erupted from the stone under Dalton's feet.
The mage held his head woozily, but then cast a much larger fire spell. Greven couldn't avoid this one, and he pulled into his armor as much as he could. Greven unleashed an unwavering beam of power that smashed Dalton into the opposite wall, leaving a fairly noticeable dent. But Dalton counterattacked with a barrage of spells that sent Greven sprawling to the floor. 'Something is missing here. My powers aren't... pure enough. I have to concentrate, like Schala was showing me...'
As explosions raged around him, Greven slowly rose to his feet, oblivious to the destructive energy. Dalton was surprised, but used this to his advantage. He launched a razor sharp icicle strait at Greven's heart. Amazingly, it pushed him back into the wall, but did not penetrate his armor. Greven barely noticed the blow. Angry now, Dalton cast a huge Shadow explosion that enveloped half the room. Greven walked slowly out of the enveloping darkness, completely unscathed. "What? This is impossible!"
"Not impossible," Greven now looked him straight in the eye, "but Holy!!!" With that word, a huge bolt of energy launched from Greven's chest. It was a rippling mixture of white, blue, and green. It rammed into and passed through Dalton, leaving him gasping on the floor. Greven had a smile on his face, until he had to jump out of the way as a huge iron orb smashed into the floor. As Greven rolled out of the way, Dalton jumped forward, unsheathing a sword in mid leap. Greven drew his own sword just in time to parry the blow. As Greven strained against Dalton's surprising strength, he slowly rose to his feet on straining legs. "Why... do you hate us so much?" He grunted.
"You'll never live to know." Dalton grinned fiercely, increasing the pressure on his sword. Greven staggered back, then kicked out with his foot as he fell. Dalton jumped forward, only to find his face colliding with Greven's fist. It was his turn to stagger back. Greven grinned and kicked Dalton in the groin. Then as the mage bent over, he stood up and kicked Dalton's forehead. The mage crashed to the ground, and Greven swung down with his sword. Dalton rolled away fairly quickly, but Greven did manage to carve up a small piece of his shoulder, and blood ran down Dalton's cape.
Dalton moved his left arm painfully, but he still wielded his sword with skill. The two parried each others' blows back and forth across the room. Greven jumped forward, swinging his sword in a tight arc that allowed him to defend while bringing the sword back up to a ready position. Dalton's sword nearly flew from his fingers as the second blow caught him completely by surprise. Pressing the advantage, Greven scored a glancing blow on Dalton's wounded shoulder, sending more blood flying. Dalton was forced to let go with his left arm, and Greven's next vicious upward slice sent his sword flying from his fingers. Greven lifted his sword high and charged, but Dalton managed to duck out of death's way. His rich cape was caught by the sword, pinning him to the wall.
Not bothering to take the time to remove his sword, for that would free Dalton and give him time to cast a spell, Greven rushed up and punched him square in his right eye. Because Dalton's head was already against the wall, there was nowhere for the kinetic energy to go. The sound of Dalton's skull fracturing was plainly audible. As Greven removed his fist, he saw that a sharp section of Dalton's forhead had slid down, stabbing deep into his eye. Blood flowed very freely, and Dalton couldn't help screaming. If he didn't heal himself, he would die very soon. Greven definitely wouldn't mind that, but he needed some answers first. He yanked his sword out of the wall, and Dalton fell to his knees, clutching his head in his hands. Next, a healing light fell on him. His head returned to it's normal shape, although Greven was glad to see the eye was damaged seemingly past repair.
Giving Dalton no time to regain full fighting strength, Greven picked him up and smashed him against the wall, only now realizing that two of his own knuckles were broken. "I want some answers here, and I want them now! Why do you hate Schala so much?!"
"I'm never talking!" Dalton spat. Greven punched him in the same place again, though not as hard this time. Dalton screamed with the pain. "All right!" Greven let up the pressure on his shoulders a little. "Have you ever heard of the kingdom of Besroda?"
"I have some vague recollections."
"It was crushed by Allegan over 300 years ago. The Alleganians thought they had wiped it out completely. They were wrong." Greven relaxed a little now. He thought he knew where this was going. "Some of my ancestors survived, by finding shelter with some Alleganians who actually had a sense of fair play. They were Belthasar's ancestors, I believe. Ever since that time, my family has sworn to rid the world of the royal Alleganians, but we have failed. I let Schala live this long because she wasn't much of a threat. But now that you two seem to be on the road to producing yet another cursed generation of the Alleganian royal family, I decided I needed to act."
"Allegan is gone, you fool. Its a whole different world now!"
"Nothing lasts forever. Including this kingdom. I must make sure that the Alleganians don't rule the world in the future!" Dalton bowed his head, and looked out the window. "And now that I've delayed you a fatal length of time, I'll be going." Dalton pushed his way out of Greven's grasp.
Greven let him go, but only to stop and pick up his sword. "Actually, now that you've answered my question, your time is up." Dalton turned back, looking at him in an odd way through his one good eye. "Its time to die, Dalton."
Greven's flesh began to creep when Dalton merely smiled in response. "Yes," he nodded, "it is."
Then a huge blast of fire rushed into the room, smashing Greven through the outside wall next to the window, and into the open air below, where the Blackbird's cannons were waiting.
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"Now we must fight. Eeaaaaaagghhh!!!" - Ramza Beoulve
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