Deathsong Chronicles - Prelude 5

The small group trundled tiredly through the forest. Finally, they reached the end. A white fortress stood tall in front of them. They rushed gratefully towards it. As they neared, a knight swathed in white armor rode out to meet them.

"Halt! Who goes there?" said the knight behind his visor. Recognising the voice, Ruby said:"You son of a b****, Haydn, can't you even recognise your buddy Ruby?"

"..."The knight opened his visor."Sorry, didn't see you. Come on in, I was about to go out to look for you anyway. There's a shaman looking for you."

This interested Ruby."A shaman...lead the way." The group went in the castle. A startling sight met them. A shaman, dressed in rags and radiating a strange aura.

"Hail, shaman. I hear that you've been looking for me. Is there anything you need?" said Ruby courteously. The shaman, a girl, had a strange look. A cross between good and evil...

"I am Carolyn. I come to seek...your life!" The ever-present wind roared up to a gale, slamming all present except the caster to the walls. Ruby grimaced. Such assassins were common, but one as powerful as this was unexpectable.

Ruby drew his sword, said to the others one sentence: "Stay out of this!" and charged.The shaman cast a hailstorm directly at Ruby, who spun his sword round and round like a fan. The hails became confetti.

He then leapt aside as a fireball came along, and lunged. Carolyn parried with her staff and cast a wind spell to carry her away. "You won't be so lucky next time!" she yelled as she was whisked away.

"Sheesh. The power she had... almost as strong as Kaithlyn. That sucks." commented Ruby.
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Over a hearty meal, Ruby explained their cause to the leader of the white knights-for that was what their holy order was called- one called Sieghart.

Sieghart agreed that the time was right that they forever vanquish the demon strongholds, but they needed troops for that, and he requested them to stay for a week more, so as to wait for more troops.

"No. We cannot wait. We must settle some matters before storming the fortresses. But we will meet you, one week later, at the plains of Dagorlad, to storm Darkholde." was Ruby's reply."But, we must stay one night, to recoup our strength."

"It is well. Haydn! Prepare rooms for the warriors. The best we have to offer." ordered Sieghart. "Come the morrow, you will leave with some armor we have, as we have an overabundance of supplies."

The group settled down, and started to rest. Late at night, though, the windows in Jennifer's room shattered with the force of a battering ram. A behemoth of a monster, scarred all over it's body, hefted a massive sword two times bigger than Ruby's and lurched into the room. Jennifer screamed as she recognised the demon.

Berserker.